


Angel of Miracle

by digitalgate02



Series: Lady of the Castle [3]
Category: Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-04-06 19:31:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14063976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/digitalgate02/pseuds/digitalgate02
Summary: SAVE the (other) world.





	1. Lance Duskstella

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the last part of the main story. There's only ten chapters just like the others.  
> Since you're here, you probably know who Lance is and I may tell you I'm working on his arc -- the fourth, named "Star" -- at the moment.  
> But since I have no idea how to post it here, it will be available on the fic's blog as exclusive material.
> 
> So don't find odd the AO3 ver. skipping directly to Hinode later.
> 
> Again, Lance's story was heavily based on _Servant of Evil_ song. But since the first time I wrote this story, I've changed bits to make it less ripoff. Still based on it, but now more influences were part of this series -- UT and P5. You will notice those when you reach certain chapters where you can feel how those two series influenced in my new take of the story.

_Ah yes, my name was Lance, son of the Duskstella royal family. I was the only boy to not be kicked out from the castle, all the previous generation had been banished until the actual queen had had a daughter. So many sons like me had been disowned, abandoned and died alone. Some probably had escaped from their own homeland and had found peace in the other reigns._

_But my whole story is pretty confusing. I was lucky, very lucky…  
… Until I faced my terrible fate._

“I have a sister now?!”

“Yes, your mother had given birth to a girl. I’m sure you will be banished from the palace once the council learns about it. What will you do then?”

_I hated the council. I hate them all with a burning passion. Why? Because they didn’t want me to stay around. They were afraid of a tyrant, and Duskstella only had fair queens, loved by their people. I never wanted to be a king though, I used to go out and enjoy life by myself. I liked to work in the kitchen, cooking meals for everyone. I liked to walk around the capital and meet those creatures living in secret in some places._

_Did I tell you this world was inhabited by monsters? Like, the monsters you all have alongside? The ones called ‘digimon’ in your world? Well, I think… Humans and monsters couldn’t get along very well. Especially those who’re hybrid due to some reason – or because one fused with another to save their life, or a forced fusion for the sake of power. I won’t say humans weren’t evil and monsters weren’t good. There were BAD humans and BAD monsters, just like there were also GOOD humans and GOOD monsters._

“Oh hey, it’s Lance!”  
“You’re happy today, my friend!”

“Yes, I am!” - Lance smiled to the little baby digimon - “Because I saw there’s new flowers in the garden, and Lia is growing up really fast! She’s an adorable sister, I want to protect her… But at the same time I want her to be strong.”

“You’re a good person, Lance.” - Said an elder who was taking care of the babies, Jijimon - “I’m sure you can help her to find her own way.”

“I know I know!” - the boy smiled - “I just think that… none of the women in this place need protection, they’re all strong and great. I feel bad for wanting to protect Lia. So, maybe I can help her when she becomes the next queen! But… I don’t want to be banished from my own home, the council is evil.”

_I definitely HATED the council._

_Anyway, Lia grew up stronger and healthier. We were just small kids when I was showing her the forest and that event happened:_

“Help me…”

“No, Lia, we need to help that person!”  
“Big brother, you shouldn’t! She’s creepy!”  
“I can’t! It’s my duty as a good person to help whoever’s in need!”  
“But she’s evil, I can feel it!”  
“Just because someone’s appearance is unpleasant it does not mean they’re evil, Lia!”

_I was wrong, Lia was right. The mysterious woman was a witch, an evil one. She made me open a box with darkness sealed within… I freed the darkness in our own world, but at the same time, my pure heart caused an ancestral spell. It would fight the darkness while I, the one who opened the box, was alive._

_Then, all the bad things started to happen:_

“The queen has passed away…”  
“Now with the queen’s gone, how can we survive this crisis?!”  
“First of all, let’s train the little Lia to be the next queen. We can take care of Duskstella while she’s young.”  
“But…What will we do with Prince Lance?”  
“The queen broke the rules for him, and I don’t care if her last will was for us to raise him. Get rid of him, now and quickly.”

_I heard that from a servant, who used to be my friend when I worked at the kitchen. The council court decided to banish me, and perhaps kill me? Anyway, I escaped from there thanks to Helios, who also let me stay with him and his roommate Sienna._

_We had a happy life together. But while I was having fun with them, the darkness was corrupting hearts one by one. And Lia’s… Well, Lia’s heart too. I wouldn’t say mine was still pure, but maybe just 5% corrupted, I still felt normal._

_Darkness in this world is like a disease, it spreads and forces people to commit crimes, to steal from the poor, to kill who’s weak and to prejudice the others. What happened to Lia? She became the queen, Helios found some way to put me in the castle again without the council knowledge of me. I worked in the kitchen, cooking for them and for Lia. And once Lia discovered what the council had done to me, she disbanded them all and made a new council… And that was how I became part of it, with Helios of course._

_Helios and I were so much closer to Lia since we were kids. I can say, just like Motomiya Daisuke is pretty close to the Yagami siblings in your world. They kept that friendship for years, and they’re the most important characters in my story._

“Purezza is such a bunch of stealers, they stole the domains of my family and claimed to be the land of art! How dare they!”

“Lia, I don’t think that’s true” - Lance gently protested - “They were immigrants escaping from Scentia Terra, and the third lineage of our family donated a part of our land to them. This is how Duskstella became a star shaped country. Our family was always generous and humble.”

_I never expected Lia to be like that. It was the signal of the dark feelings. The greed and seek for revenge. Claiming that a gift wasn’t a gift, rather Purezza stole our lands. While Lia wanted it… Helios convinced her to stop, and thankfully she stopped for a while. Then, Helios suggested to send someone to try make an alliance with our neighbor. I was the one to go there._

_There… I met the love of my life – Fiorella. She was the newest queen of Purezza.  
But when I went home… Lia had returned with the idea of taking the lands back, so she planned a war with Purezza, and I got an ultimatum to invade it and overthrown the current queen. At this point of my life, the corruption of my heart was… I’m not good with math, but probably 55% and I started to feel it. And I remember I was talking with a stranger who convinced me to do something cruel._

_… Yes, I killed the love of my life.  
And this made Lia felt shocked, but Helios told her she was being a hypocrite. Remember the corruption? Well, it kinda backpedaled a bit, when I realized how wrong that was and then I lost my desire to keep living. I lived as a soulless living being, just waiting for the end._

_Lia wasn’t different from me. She was the worst queen ever, and she also executed innocent people who dared to oppose her. There was a fianceé of Sienna who died with the other rebels, it caused my sweet and beloved friend-sister to change as well. She was taken by the thirst of revenge. She started a new rebellion and this one was successful._

“They’ll invade the palace! I’m scared!”

“… I have a plan” - Lance glanced at her - “Helios, Lia… Take everyone out of here, I’ll deal with them by myself.”

_I had a terrible plan. And I was sure it would’ve been the last of my life. But, no. Let’s continue. I’m explaining the rest next._

“Queen Lia, you’re– Huh?? Lance? Why are you here?”

_Sienna felt completely surprised, confused and even perplexed with the fact they didn’t find Lia in the throne, but me._

“You’re looking for the one behind the strings pulling the worst Duskstella queen ever? Well, that’s me. I did this all, because I hated this place, I hated you all. I truly hated that I was banished from my own home, separated from my own family even against my mother’s last will! So you can say… I’m the evil tyrant who doomed Duskstella. Not her. Lia was my victim, I used her.

“But why?! You used to love us… To love me…! Weren’t we friends?!”

“That was all a façade” - he smirked and rolled his eyes - “It’s was all according to my plan.”

_I know Sienna NEVER believed in that story.  
She tried to convince the rebellions to let me go, to not get involved… But they ignored her. They captured me, they were planning my execution. I felt like I was going to pay for my terrible mistakes._

_Except…_

“Lance Duskstella, I cannot let you die here or this world will be doomed.”

“Huh?! W-who are you?! And how– Am I dead? What happened??”

“No. You’re not dead, I saved you from there.”

_Warlock appeared in the middle of the crowd at the day of my execution and used his powers to save me. He made an illusion where everyone saw me dead, including Lia, Helios and Sienna. I was brought to the land of knowledge, Scientia Terra and there Warlock explained me everything and how some events only happened because we all were pawns of the darkness._

_… I had no choice, it was my job to seal it all again and purify this world. And there I learned about this ‘barrier’ and how it worked. So you can see… The darkness manipulated everything to get rid of me. Thankfully Warlock interfered and saved me. He was my light._

_Since I was ‘dead’ as Lance, I needed a new identity. And due to my quick progress in the art of wizardry, Warlock decided to call me ‘Dai’. From the old Celtic word ‘dei’ which means ‘to shine’. And Let’s say I was shining, I was the hope of this world. I was the cause of its corruption in the first place._

“I found you, Duskstella siblings!”

“He followed me?!”  
“W-wait, he knows who I am?!”

_After Lia coming to this lands after learning from a friend that she had found a person who looked like Lia’s brother, this guy came seeking revenge. His motives are still unknown to me, we have to ask him later.  
And there was where I died, protecting Lia from a fatal blow. Warlock expulsed Boniface from there with magic (and help of Amis and Flannery), and then they reunited with me. Before I died, I used the rest of my life force to put a spell in this star pendant. I trusted it to Warlock and asked him to protect Lia from Boniface in my place._

_Oh that’s right, I forgot to mention about the star, silly me. Since I was a child, my mother gave me this little pendant. I used as my lucky charm to always be with her. Even after her death, I wore this pendant and maybe that was the reason my identity got discovered._

_Anyway, I went to an eerie place after my death.  
But then I was judged by one of the monsters, I assumed it was a winged dog-like. He said he was the one who judged the souls and how he decided their afterlife’s fate._

_You won’t believe that… I got forgiveness for my crimes because I was a good person, and that I was deeply regretful for everything, trying to fix my mistakes._

_The pitch black became white, lights came from my chest: a blue light became the Crest of Friendship and gave me a jacket. A red light became the Crest of Courage and painted the bottom of my jacket as red. And the golden light became the crest of Miracle, drawing the flames between the blue and red in this said jacket._

_That was when I became_ **Daisuke.** _And where my next life had decided._

“You’re so mean, oneesan!”  
“Stop being a crybaby!”

**I had a sister, a bratty sister. She didn’t hate me that much when I was little, but well… It was kinda a nightmare. But I indeed was loved by my new family, friends and futurely by the digimon.**

“I’m V-mon, and you?”  
“Dai-Daisuke…”

**I’ve became a Chosen Child, fated to protect the Digital World. It was my biggest wish since I got kidnapped by Vamdemon’s minions, and since I saw Taichi-san’s group fighting him. I was a terrible newbie, but I learned how to be a role model to all kids. Then, a year after those events… After meeting Natchan.**

**Something triggered the magic inside me. The spell calling me to my old home, to finish a job I hadn’t finished as** _Lance_ **and probably could finish it as Daisuke.**

“And here we are, ladies, gentlemen and digimons. The story of how Lance Duskstella became Motomiya Daisuke and why on earth I’m speaking funny to some of you and so nostalgic to the others. Any questions?”

After that narrative, Lia hugged Daisuke tightly and sobbed. For some reason, Hikari felt her other-self had been waiting for it for a long time ago.

“Hey, don’t cry, my little star” - Daisuke smiled at Lia, while patting her hair - “I’m fine, but… In another world now. Let’s say you’re with me there, as Yagami Hikari. And Helios as Yagami Taichi.”

“Huh?” - Hikari blinked - “Do you mean Lia-san and I are the same person?”

“Not exactly” - Daisuke answered Hikari’s question - “But you and Lia are alike, in personality I say. I think we can call it a parallel world. I love you Hikari-chan, but I think now I say be sure it’s not romantic love, but brotherly love. Just like I loved Lia when I was her brother.”

“So you’re a butt to Takeru-kun because of this… Evil Takeru?” - asked Miyako.

“Maybe?” - he chuckled - “But I don’t hate Takeru, or Boniface. All the hatred Boniface has is caused by the darkness in this world.”

“Actually…” - Boniface calmed down. His eyes had changed and they had changed to something more livelily… Then he began - “Sienna ordered me to eliminate Lia Duskstella as revenge for taking you away from her. I didn’t want to kill you two anymore when I learned Lance was alive and I really wanted to return to tell Sienna, but… Something took control over my body and mind.”

“He’s not evil?” - Patamon questioned.

“He’s different now, dagya…!”

“So the darkness in this world was trying to eliminate you again…” - Ken mused - “Probably you returning here, and with another life, maybe reactivated the force that was fighting the darkness.”

“I’m sure Warlock would’ve said that, Ichijouji” - Daisuke nodded - “That’s a good assumption, I guess. Maybe the barrier I created as Lance is back because… Huh, I left a fragment of myself here.”

“B-But weren’t we vulnerable in this place?” - Miyako panicked - “I mean, being corrupted by the darkness of this place!”

“I think not, because you’re from another world full of light” - Daisuke responded - “Like I’m probably immune as well now.”

“Daisuke-san, or Lance-san” – Iori called him - “we’re here to fight the darkness and bring the light back to this world, right? Then, what can we do?”

“Firstly, call me… Uh… I’m finding it pretty confusing as well… I have two kinds of memories in my head – Lance’s and Daisuke’s… You can call me by ‘Dai’, which can be for either Daisuke’s ‘big’ or Lance’s ‘to shine’. I think I’m adopting this as nickname now…”

“He clearly sounds like Daisuke yet” - Vee shrugged

“Does it mean Daisuke and Lance jogressed into one?” - Patamon innocently asked - “I’m confused…”

“That’s not time for this… We have a job to do here, and I guess you five should go home now” - Dai was definitely talking about the Chosen Children - “I have to stay and solve this, and I don’t want to put your lives in danger.”

“No!” - Ken protested and made the other four surprised - “We’re your friends, Motomiya-kun– Dai. There’s no way we will go home without you!”

“Ken-kun’s right, we won’t leave without you, Daisuke” - Miyako stared at the goggle boy - “E-even if you’re different right now, you’re still our friend.”

“Um, I’m still myself” - the goggle boy blinked - “… No wait, I think that’s what Patamon said… Lance’s personality and Daisuke’s just jogressed once I recovered the missing piece of the enigma– OKAY, let’s stop talking about it and move on. You want to come, then let’s go” - then he looked back to Lia - “Ah! Lia, you have to return to the castle and undo the spell you put on Warlock and Flannery”

She nodded.

“Can we go now…? Ah, any question will be answered while we’re heading to Warlock’s castle.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact time: Originally all counterparts were supposed to be the Chosen Children's past lives and this got a bit retconned in this new version because I wasn't sure if people would accept a story where once the Digital World and the Human World were one.
> 
> So the truth here is it's a parallel world and Daisuke is the only one of them to have been part of this world as another person.


	2. In this World...

While the six young children from the group were having a task to be completed in another world…

“I don’t believe them.”

… Taichi was having his doubts.

“Why wouldn’t Hikari call home to tell us she’s okay? And now I can’t contact Miyako-chan, Daisuke, Takeru… They disappeared!”

“Maybe they’re in the Digital World solving some problem with the digimon.” - Koushiro mused - “I had no time to check the map yet, but I’ll do later.”

“I wish I could be as calm as Yamato is.” - he complained - “At least now. Remember when he was the one to make a fuss because of Takeru?”

“Yes, I remember. But maybe he’s not aware of anything at the moment…?”

Someone knocked on the door to Koushiro’s room.

“Taichi-san, could you please open the door for me, I’m busy with this program here.”

“Fine, fine… I bet it’s Mrs. Izumi asking if we want something to eat–”

Taichi opened the door and got grabbed by a wild Ishida Yamato in panic.

“TAICHI, KOUSHIRO, HAVE YOU TALKED TO TAKERU TODAY?! I called mom and she said he wasn’t at home. I called Iori and his mother said that Iori wasn’t at home either!”

“Yamato, chill. Man, can’t you realize that if Takeru is not at home that means he’s with Daisuke and the others?”

“Aren’t you worried about Hikari-chan?!”

“Of course I am! She didn’t come home yesterday, and Miyako-chan said she was over at her house.”

“How can you be so calm about it?!”

“Could you please stop yelling in my room?” - Koushiro raised his voice to try to stop the fight - “I need to concentrate.”

Actually, Taichi wasn’t calm on the  _inside_. Koushiro knew Taichi well enough to notice it, but he didn’t want to start a big discussion while he was so busy programming stuff. While Taichi and Yamato had their usual bickering, he worked on the codes and data. He was about to create something new and probably useful for them.

He had been developing some kind of cyber space to store the digimon, so they didn’t need to pretend they were plushies all the time when in the human world.

“What are you doing?” - two heads stopped above Koushiro’s shoulders, curious and trying to understand why was he so focused on his computer.

“A compact digital realm” - Koushiro responded - “You will see what it does when I finish it. Please, do not disturb me.”

Taichi and Yamato looked at each other, then stepped back. They kept staring at each other in silence, only the computer’s fans noise was heard in the room.

“He’s not helping,” - Yamato groused.

“I wouldn’t say that he isn’t,” - Taichi shrugged - “it’s just that he’s too busy to pay attention to us.”

“I am paying attention, but I’d like if I could finish this first.”

“Those poor kids, what if they need our help?” - Taichi rolled his eyes - “What if they’re trying to contact us right now and–”

“… I understood you” - Koushiro snorted, then he stopped programming to open his notebook and access the Digital World’s map - “… Apparently, there’s no S.O.S. signal. Maybe they’re just doing something together and forgot their phones.”

“Maybe we’re just too worried” - Yamato  _tried_ staying calm - “Maybe–”

“No, there’s something off here” - Taichi squinted - “I don’t believe them.”

“You don’t believe in your own sister, Taichi?!”

“Oh look who’s talking! Who entered this room flipping out and screaming at the top of his lungs?!”

01100101 01110000 01101001 01110011 01101111 01100100 01100101 00100000 00110010

“Won’t oniisan and the others be worried about us?” - Takeru was carrying Patamon in his arms, just like Hikari was carrying Tailmon - “The D-terminal didn’t work when I tried to message Daisuke-kun…”

“Our messages hadn’t been sent” - Iori explained.

“Ah, it’s because this world is not connected to the Digital World or your world” - Dai said - “However, the D-3 works here because they… Um… Are a holy device?”

“I don’t understand it…” - Iori commented.

“Neither I, there’s things that are not to be comprehended, but to be felt” - he smiled - “Like your connection with the digimon, right? You don’t need to understand why you’re a Chosen Child, but you have to feel it to be one.”

“Sometimes I wonder why were we chosen.” - he mused.

“Shush, you were chosen because you were needed, that’s all. All the Chosen Children were chosen because we were needed.”

“But does it mean…” - Lia was about to question something but - “N-Nevermind.”

“Eh, being a Chosen Child was  **Daisuke’s**  biggest desire– No, wait.  **His**  biggest desire was to be strong. And  **he**  is.”

“You talking like this sounds like you’re not Daisuke anymore” - Miyako sighed - “It’s weird… Daisuke is jogressed with… Someone from this world. I thought only digimon could do jogress.”

“Actually” - Ken began - “the jogress does not only occur between the digimon, Miyako-san. It also connects the tamers’ hearts and we share feelings and thoughts at the same time. And I assume we also share a bit of our personality as well.”

“That explains why you were acting like Daisuke hours ago” - she giggled - “You absorbed a bit of Daisuke-ness.”

“This means all of us absorbed a bit of our jogress partners.”

“Makes sense” - said both Iori and Daisuke.

“… Now I realized it” - Miyako replied - “But it doesn’t mean I like to hear Daisuke talking like this. It’s creepy.”

“Oh my apologizes, milady” - Daisuke rolled his eyes - “I had no intention of frightening you.”

“Stop. STOP doing that!”

He laughed, but the others not… Well, they had good sense.

“*ahem* I’m sorry, force of habit” - he kept walking.

“Was your brother like this too, Lia-san?” - Hikari muttered to Lia.

“Not exactly, he was nice…” - the other muttered back - “Sometimes liked to tease Amis and Flannery, but why the question?”

“Because… Nevermind.”

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“They’re not in the Digital World” - Taichi was still bugged, with Yamato sitting next to him on the bench - “I don’t want to look like a stalker, should we ask their non-Chosen-Children friends for some information?”

“And yet you say you don’t want to look like a stalker.”

“Oi. Hikari didn’t come home, didn’t call to tell mom she was going to stay the night at Miyako-chan’s house. What if it were Takeru??”

“Takeru should’ve phoned mom, not me. Did you forget we don’t live together or what?”

“… I’m sorry.”

“… I should’ve been worried too.”

Suddenly, they saw a peculiar girl walking in their direction. She stopped in front the bench, his hands on her hips and giving a serious gaze at Taichi.

“Yagami Taichi.”

He didn’t understand why was Motomiya Jun there, and Yamato was also relieved that Jun had stopped to stalk him after a while. But that’s not important, but WHAT is Jun doing there?!

“M-Motomiya-senpai?!” - Taichi babbled.

“Spill it out” - she was tapping her foot - “Daisuke didn’t come home yesterday. Where is he?!”

Taichi and Yamato looked at each other and frowned, then both returned to give Jun’s attention.

“Daisuke didn’t come home??”

“You heard me,Yagami Taichi. Where’s my brother?”

“Wasn’t he at Ichijouji’s house? Because since they became friends, Daisuke is always with Ichijouji.”

“I phoned the Ichijouji-kun’s residence and no one answered the call!”

“No one? Maybe they went out to meet with their friends.”

“So you don’t know where he is?”

“If I knew, why would I hide it?” - he was losing his patience, but kept cool. She was older, and he didn’t want to snap out - “No, Yamato and I don’t know where he is.”

“Oh my poor little brother!” - she started to dramatize, her hand’s back on her forehead, tears and all the drama you could get from a Motomiya child - “What will I do without my brother?!”

“M-Motomiya-senpai” - Taichi sighed - “Ya-Yamato, how about you stay here with her while I go look for Daisuke and the others?”

“WHAT?!” - Yamato stared at him - “How about YOU stay and I go look for them?”

“Because she’s your old fan, and I have no tact with girls. A bunch of girls said it to me before!”

“That’s true– But I won’t buy it!”

_“What’s happening here?”_

All the three glanced at the newcomer: Sora. For a while, Yamato thought she and Jun were going to fight but…

“My brother… My brother disappeared!” - Jun kept being dramatic, now hugging Sora and crying on the other’s shoulder.

“There, there” - And Sora started to try to calm Jun down - “Isn’t he with Ichijouji-kun?”

“I tried to phone him but no success!”

“Taichi” - Yamato whispered - “It’s our chance. Let’s Sora take care of her, and we go look for Hikari, Takeru and Daisuke.”

“Right.” - Taichi nodded. He got up from the bench and said - “Sora, we will look for him, could you please stay with Motomiya-senpai for a while?”

“Okay…” - then she talked to Jun - “Taichi and Yamato will find Daisuke-kun. Don’t worry…!”

01100101 01110000 01101001 01110011 01101111 01100100 01100101 00100000 00110010

“Man… I owe Sora a favor now” - he commented with Yamato - “No, I’m sure you too. But where we can find those kids? Koushiro said they’re not in the Digital World, remember?”

Yamato was thoughtful.

“They wouldn’t disappear from out of the blue right, haha! They might be around… Oh, I know where we can look first! There’s the mall, where Hikari goes to eat Ice Cream with Miyako-chan and her friends!”

“There’s also the police dojo,” - Yamato finally spoke - “where Iori takes kendo lessons with his grandpa…”

“And Daisuke is always playing soccer with Ichijouji, so they’re probably in the soccer field.”

“Takeru might be with them, just writing or with Hikari-chan and Miyako-chan.”

“We know where to start. Time to get in action!”

Yamato stopped,Taichi proceeded until he realized the other wasn’t following him. He stepped back and…

“What if they’re not in this world?”

Yamato was being realist. Yes, if they were in the human world they should’ve contacted them before. The other place they could think about was…  _The Dark Ocean_. But Taichi refused to believe in that possibility. To be honest, he preferred to not talk about that place, especially because all the times Hikari had been threatening to vanish, Taichi had prevented it in time.

“What are you talking about?” - Taichi played dumb, forcing a smile - “Of course they must be here! If they’re not in the Digital World, where could they be? Another world? A dark world? The one the kids sealed Daemon? Haha, you’re being too–”

“You DON’T understand, Taichi!”

Yamato raised his voice, and it was like a roar. It made Taichi look at him perplexed. No, he wasn’t dumb, he totally got Yamato’s message, but he was trying to avoid talking about it.

“I will contact Koushiro again.” - Taichi was a bit afraid. Of what? - “Try to check the Ichijouji’s house” - Then he left, leaving Yamato there.

Yamato decided to not talk about anything, he just opted to follow Taichi’s order.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The name is a reference to [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOju2ThS--M&t=0s).


	3. The Cores

Koushiro was enjoying the peace, chatting with Gennai and Tentomon while working on his brand new gimmick when his mother knocked on the door and opened it to tell her beloved and intelligent son that Taichi had returned and needed to talk to him. Curious about what made his friend return, he stopped working and told Gennai and Tentomon to wait a minute.

Taichi didn’t want to talk about it around Mrs. Izumi, so he dragged Koushirou back to the room and closed the door.

“Taichi-san, what’s wrong?” - he blinked.

“I know you’re busy, but it’s urgent” - Taichi began - “I met Daisuke’s sister and she told Yamato and I that Daisuke hadn’t came home yesterday. She’s started to cry and we were saved by Sora. Can’t you check the Digital World map again, we need to find the young kids.”

“I checked it before when you insisted, but… I didn’t see anything. The gate was open not a few hours ago, but… If Hikari-san and Daisuke-kun hadn’t come home this could mean…”

“… Don’t tell the same thing Yamato said.”

“What’s Yamato-san’s hypothesis?” - the other felt more curiosity killing him.

“He thinks they’re in another world! The only worlds we know are… The one the kids fought Vamdemon, and the Dark Ocean. And we never went to any of those before!”

“It’s plausible” - Koushiro rested his chin on his hand - “If we go with the theory of multiverse, there’s innumerable worlds alongside these ones, our world and the Digital World.”

“yes, but– Wait a minute, you won’t convince me about this. Why would Hikari go to another unknown world?! M-Makes no sense!”

“She had been summoned to the Dark Ocean before, it might have happened again.”

“Why would something or someone summon my sister again if not the Dark Ocean?!”

_Silence._

“… The last time it happened, she told me someone was calling for her help” - Taichi did a recap of past events from the last year - “But who else would summon her?”

“Maybe it’s too obvious, it’s a call for help as well.”

“Or it’s a trap! She’s in danger, we need to save her!”

“I’m sure that’s not the case. Takeru-kun, Daisuke-kun, Miyako-kun, Iori-kun and Ichijouji-kun should’ve done something already. If not, we will receive a message asking for assistance.”

“But they’re inexperienced and–”

“We were too and we survived.”

“You’re not helping!!”

Neither your panic, Taichi.

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“Warlock said there’s a gate hidden in the forest, but there’s a mystical force that creates a corridor of wind, making easily to across the ocean back to Scientia Terra.”

That was what both Lia and Amis explained to the others, except the four already knew about it thanks to Warlock. And Dai  _probably_  was aware of it as well.

“So we will fly to the castle?” - Hikari asked.

“It would take hours to find the hidden magical gate” - Amis added this observation.

“Heh, no problem because our team here is a flighting squad” - Miyako punched the air - “We have XV-mon, Stingmon, Aquilamon, Digmon, Nefertimon and Pegasmon on our side!”

“Can Digmon fly?” - Ken seemed surprised with that information.

“I have wings in Digmon form, dagya” - Armadimon felt insulted.

“I’m sorry, I never noticed it b-before…”

“Don’t be like that, Armadimon. Ken-san didn’t see Digmon flying before” - Iori tried to fix Ken’s mistake. Ken gave a nervous laugh and nodded with his head.

“He flies and even I was surprised when I saw Digmon flying” - Dai commented - “No offense, Armadimon.”

Armadimon just snorted.

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“No one’s home…?” - Yamato frowned.

He had tried everything, but no success. No one answered. The neighbors said the owners weren’t at home, and some of them said that they had seen Ken leaving at the morning.

But no one knew anything more than that.

“Darn it!” - Yamato clenched his fist - “Where did those kids go this time?! Did they get a S.O.S. message and ran straight to the Digital World?”

That seemed the best hypothesis at the moment.

“I have to tell Taichi…”

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The sentinel and the wizard were still trying to break the spell, but none of their attempts worked. As Warlock was losing hopes, Flannery was pretty exhausted from running around the library, bringing the magic books to Warlock. He could’ve used his own powers to do it, but he needed focus to use it. With no profits, Warlock started to feel exhausted.

“We won’t cancel this spell sooner…”

“Oh come, on, master… It will work! Have faith!”

“Flannery, I’m sorry to sound pessimist but–”

_“Whoa, that was reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally fast.”_

Warlock dropped the current book he had in hands and left the library. Flannery went behind him, petrified with that voice.

“It surely sounds like Daisuke” - Miyako shrugged.

“My brother was exactly like this too” - Lia blinked - “Are you saying Daisuke is like this too?”

“Definitely” - Takeru answered.

Warlock was staring at them, petrified. He could notice something different in the goggle boy… Weren’t his eyes brown? Why are they shining like…

“Oh look they’re back, but…” - Flannery commented - “Didn’t we hear his voice? Maybe we’re just mistaking Daisuke with–”

“Warlock!” - Lia said aloud - “I’m sorry” - then she whispered - “I’m sorry for doing another grave mistake. I will fix it all, don’t worry… But my brother…!!”

“… He’s Sir. Daisuke, if my assumption is correct” - Warlock revealed, making Flannery gasp - “You heard it too, Flannery. His voice was exactly similar to Lance’s.”

“Did his voice sound different to you all?” - V-mon asked the 02 kids - “Because he speaks funnily but still sounds like Daisuke to me.”

“What, my voice?” - Dai felt completely lost - “Well, that’s not a big difference… Not that I noticed it before but…”

“Now that you mentioned” - Flannery approached from Daisuke - “Your eyes are a bit different, Daisuke… I mean… looks like Lance’s–”

“I didn’t realize his eyes changed color too!” - commented Amis - “Wait, were they another color before?”

“Daisuke’s eyes are brown” - said Tailmon - “And they’re right, Daisuke… Your eyes are shining in orange.”

“That doesn’t matter now!” - Dai gave the group a serious gaze - “Lia, undo the spell. We need to talk seriously about our next step. Amis and Flannery, keep Boniface under your watch. I dunno if he would not do something against us and I don’t want anyone here to get hurt.”

“Why do you think I’d try to kill you all?” - Boniface questioned them - “I’ve come back to my senses…! You should fear Sienna, she was the one who sent me after Lia…!!”

“If he was corrupted… Then does it mean everyone in this world is too?” - Iori questioned.

“Not exactly” - Warlock talked while Lia was trying to undo the spell around the castle - “For some unknown reason, I wasn’t affected like Lance, Lia and the others. And the live beings like Flannery and Amis too.”

“Lance-san was affected too?” - Miyako blinked - “But–”

“I had been corrupted before,” - Dai explained - “but since I was the source of the spell reducing the corruption, it backpedaled. Or that’s what I think it happened.”

“But then, how about Lia?” - Vee asked.

“I guess the loss made her come back to her senses?” - Dai tilted his head - “After all, she was trying to find some way to bring me back to life… But you know she couldn’t.”

“Why…?”

“I’m not great about things like this and my memories of WHAT happened between Lance to Daisuke are all a blur – except the digimon who judged me in that place after my death, but I think is because I had reborn in another world and age.”

“But then, the spooky Daisuke we saw…”

“Was actually a fragment I put inside the pendant. I wasn’t sure if I would reborn or not, but I had to make some method in case of it happening. I had to come back here and finish my job or I’d not have peace.”

“Before coming here you hadn’t those memories, so I don’t understand why would it bug you that much” - Vee shrugged.

“I dunno either, just… A weird sense of sixth sense mixed with a bit or supernatural sense?”

“Weird.”

“I think I did it,” - Lia finally spoke - “The spell has been undone, Warlock I think you can leave the castle now. We need to talk to the other five about our mission now, maybe we should start soon. I already explained a bit to Hikari, but I prefer you to explain the rest.”

“Explain… the rest?” - Hikari blinked.

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“Ichijouji wasn’t home?” - Taichi babbled on the phone. He was talking to Yamato, while Koushiro was trying to contact Gennai and the digimon to know if the young kids were in the Digital World - “Are you sure? 100 percent? They can’t be–”

“Taichi-san!” - Koushiro called his attention.

“Wait a minute, Yamato” - Taichi covered the mic of the phone and looked at Koushiro - “What is it? Did you find something?”

“Actually…” - Koushiro kept typing and browsing some kind of archive - “Gennai-san sent me a log about the Digital Gate activities, and the kids went to the Digital World this morning.”

“So… The kids…”

_“Taichi? Are you still there?”_

“A-ah, I’m sorry Yamato!” - Taichi replied back - “Koushiro discovered where they are! Don’t worry, they went to the Digital World!”

“No, there’s more details on it” - Koushiro interrupted him - “Those logs not only show when they opened or closed the gate but also has a peculiar information about how many digivices were used to across it.”

“And why would we want to know that?” - Taichi rolled his eyes.

“This morning the gate has opened, but only four digivices were used.”

Taichi almost dropped the phone on the floor.

“E-easy Koushiro! You’re not saying that Hikari wasn’t with them, right? She wouldn’t… She…”

“Only two of them didn’t go to the Digital World,” - the other gave a serious gaze at Taichi - “This means Hikari-san and Daisuke-kun disappeared before they opened the gate.”

Taichi was shivering and Koushiro realized he was pale as well. It was like a nightmare…! His sister… His  _precious_ sister…!!

“Taichi-san?”

“She’s… gone?”

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“Only the one who freed the witch can seal her again, and bring the balance back to this world. Lance was the unfortunate soul who freed her, his heart was pure and it created this barrier, a force of light which caused a slowdown on the corruption.”

Warlock, showed them some old manuscripts.

“To make the sealing enchantment work, Lance needed to gather twelve cores from the selected people’s hearts.”

“That’s too much!” - Armadimon gasped - “How could we find those in time to go home?!”

“Not to say we don’t know who are those people and how to get the cores” - Patamon added.

“I…” - Warlock took a breath and tried his best to continue - “I’m not sure either, and Lance’s journey never had been started. Those chosen ones were selected by my great grandpa, when he fought this witch, Pandora.”

“What are those cores, Warlock?” - Dai asked - “With everyone’s help, we can find them fast and save this world.”

Warlock showed then the next parchment. The Chosen Children gasped when they saw…

“T-those are the crests!” - Hikari exclaimed.

“Those are the cores” - Warlock explained - “Courage, Friendship, Love, Purity, Knowledge, Reliability, Hope, Light, Kindness, Determination, Energy, Fairness. All of them are part of this ancient spell used to seal the witch.”

“If that so…” - Dai blinked - “The key is us!” - he glanced at the others - “You know, the Chosen Children has those traits. I have Courage and Friendship, Miyako has Love and Purity, Iori has Knowledge and Reliability, Takeru has Hope, Hikari-chan has Light, and Ken has Kindness.”

“That’s right!” - Takeru added - “Those are our crests! But…”

“What about the other three?” - Iori was glancing at those unknown shapes - “This means we need to find three people who have those now.”

“Could it be?” - Warlock frowned - “Why would my great grandpa’s spell be executed with just nine people? No, there’s something odd here…”

“I agree” - Ken nodded - “You said twelve selected ones, this means it’s not just us.”

“Oh yeah, I completely forgot the part of the amount of people haha” - Dai gave a nervous laugh - “Sorry, math wasn’t my friend and it’s still a bad classmate of mine.”

“However” - Ken continued - “You’re right about something. Takeru-san, Hikari-san and I are part of this. We’re the Chosen of Hope, Light and Kindness. So this means…” - he glanced at Warlock.

“… Since we look alike, I assume this means I am the one who has the Core of Kindness” - he was thoughtful - “This means… Lia and Boniface are the holders of the Cores of Light and Hope, respectively.”

“Oh, I got it!” - Dai snapped his fingers - “So we have three fragments already. If Boniface cooperate with us, of course. And the others might be the counterparts of the Chosen Children, like Helios, Jason and Amis.”

“Wait…” - Amis blinked - “M-Me?!”

“Yeah, the doggy who looks like Yamato-san is a key” - he smirked.

“W-WHO ARE YOU CALLING DOGGY YOU PUNK?!”

“We need to find the others” - he said - “And to guess which people have those other cores.”

“By logic” - Iori started - “This means those are ours. But which one belongs to who?”

“We’ll discover it once we find Sora-san’s, Koushiro-san’s and–”

Dai stopped talking. Then a flash came in his mind. When Lance had been telling that story, he had seen that Mimi’s counterpart was…

“… It’s impossible to complete the spell, Warlock.”

Everyone said a loud “EH?!” and looked at him. And him, Daisuke-Lance "jogress", looked at the Crest of Purity in the parchment and clenched his fist.

“Why, Lance?” - Flannery asked - “What’s wrong?”

“I killed Fiorella” - He muttered - “She looked like Mimi-san, the Chosen of Purity. There’s no way to fix this…!!”


	4. Get into ACTION!!

“It won’t?!” - The Chosen Children and the digimon exclaimed petrified, they didn’t know how to react to Dai saying that.

“No, because without Fiorella, Mimi-san’s self from this world, we cannot get the Core of Purity” - he explained - “I completely forgot I killed her back in time, when I got corrupted…!”

“It’s okay,” - Ken looked at at him - “I’m a murderer too. I killed innocent digimon when I was the Kaiser. I… I understand the pain.”

“We’re aware that this place lost its light and is now doomed by the darkness” - Miyako sighed - “Even with you saying it’s not possible to corrupt us…”

“Excuse me,” - Warlock coughed - “Whatever Lance said about the corruption on you six… Is not certain or true. We never had outsiders before, so we’re not sure what will happen to you.”

“N-now I’m panicked” - Wormmon hid behind Ken’s legs - “Kenchan, let’s go home!!”

“I thought–” - Dai babbled.

“You may be a great mastermind, Lance, but you lack knowledge” - Warlock started to close the manuscripts - “It was my duty to teach you wizardry so you could use it to fight Pandora and seal the darkness.”

“Wow, nice friend you got here, Lance” - Dai said sarcastically.

“If this girl who was Mimi-san’s counterpart is dead, what should we do?” - Hikari seemed concerned - “Aren’t we able to save Lia-san’s world?”

“No, we’re definitely saving this world!” - And here was the goggle boy working at full speed - “There must be some way that exist to make it work…!!”

“You lack knowledge, but you don’t lack willpower” - the mage smiled.

“Warlock, please look at your books and everywhere. Lia, go with Miyako and try to gather Helios and Jason, please. The rest help me to find Sora-san and Koushiro-san from this world.”

“Right!” - everyone replied.

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“Taichi? Taichi!” - Yamato kept asking but the other wasn’t answering anymore - “Did he hang up? No… I still hear their voices…”

Suddenly, the Chosen Child felt something around, but ignored it. No, he needs to talk to Taichi. He heard something ‘she’s gone’. He wasn’t sure what it meant so…

“Taichi! Are you still there?! What happened? Did Koushiro discover something new about the kids? TAICHI! ANSWER ME, YOU–”

“YAMATO-SAN~♥”

Some hands grabbed Yamato’s shoulders by his back and he screamed. That scream echoed for the entire place. When Yamato looked behind him, he saw…

“M-Mimi-chan?!”

“Hello, Yamato-san!” - She smirked - “Did I scare you? Hee hee!”

“I’m on the phone, and… What are you doing here?! Weren’t you–”

“I decided to come visit you eleven!” - she said with excitement - “Where’s the others? Are they doing a party? Didn’t Sora-san tell you I was coming to make a visit? Summer is the best way to have fun with friends, there’s the beach, camping, shopping, and the city too. But I was planning to make a party for the digimon too, maybe we should go to the Digital World and enjoy the day?”

“Mimi-chan, I… We…” - how to tell Mimi that they’re having a little issue regarding the younger ones? - “Let’s talk about it later. I’m trying to talk with Taichi. Something strange happened and he’s not responding me.”

“… What’s wrong?” - she dropped that smile.

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“We can use a gate to go back to Duskstella” – Lia said it to Miyako, as they were walking on the dirt road that leads to the village - “I remember there’s one in the shore.”

“I’m fascinated with this world, Lia-san” - Hawkmon commented - “I wonder how it was before the corruption.”

“It was a nice place” - she started talking about her childhood, before Lance opening Pandora’s box. Miyako was in silence, just watching her partner and Lia interacting lively.

Actually, Miyako was overthinking. Lia Duskstella looks like Hikari, has powers, she can do anything by herself. Why would Dai tell her to go with a person who she didn’t know that well?! Wouldn’t have been better to send Hikari, since they were together before?

_“He’s still Daisuke, right?”_  - Miyako muttered to herself, a bit uncomfortable with the whole situation -  _“He… He won’t be like this forever, will he? Will he become this ‘past life’ now?”_

“Miyako-san?” - Hawkmon gave her a worried gaze - “Are you okay?”

“I… I am…”

“You don’t seem fine to me” - Lia frowned - “Is there something bothering you?”

_“I can’t tell them I’m afraid that Daisuke won’t be the same anymore”_

“It’s everything perfectly fine!” - She grinned, and saluted - “Haha! Let’s go! Can I offer you a ride? Holsmon is the best horse you can find!”

“Though I’m not a horse…” - Hawkmon felt a sweatdrop running down his head.

“I appreciate your offer, lady Miyako” - Lia giggled.

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“How will we find Sora-san and Koushiro-san from this world?” - Takeru asked - “And is there any other way to use the spell without the Core of Purity?”

“We’re going to make it work. No matter what happens, we gonna make it work!” - Dai was focused and determined - “I have to fix my mistakes, I didn’t want to involve your all… This is my problem.”

“You’re our friend, Dai-san” - Iori responded - “We wouldn’t leave you behind!”

“You did a lot for us” - Ken put his hand on Dai’s shoulder - “You did a lot for me. I’m in debt with you, and this is my time to return the favor.”

“Maybe we should ask Warlock-san and the others” - Iori suggested - “They must know someone who looks like Koushiro-san and Sora-san.”

“But redheads are not uncommon here like in Japan, Iori” - Dai replied - “They can know a lot of people who look like them. It’s not like Helios and Taichi-san, who have that… big natural crown.”

“Crown…?” - Vee tilted his head.

“I meant the hair. It’s unique, it’s like Goku’s hairstyle.”

“Ah…”

“We don’t need go with appearance though” - Ken interrupted - “Warlock-san and I have a few things in common, and I believe Lia-san and Hikari-san have too. What if… We give them exact information about quirks and behaviors that might help with the description?”

“Ken, you’re definitely the boy genius…!”

“I… I prefer to not hear those words anymore. It makes me remind how arrogant and lonely I was…”

“I’m sorry…” - Dai bowed his head, which made the others a bit confused until they remembered that Daisuke wasn’t acting normally at all.

“Okay… this wasn’t Motomiya-kun but Lance-san, right?” - Ken blinked.

“A-anyway, let’s ask! We know a lot about Sora-san and Koushiro-san.”

“A person who’s… curious?” - Flannery and Amis looked at each other - “There’s a bunch of people in this reign like this” - then they answered.

“He’s a redhead,” - Dai repeated - “always working hard, too curious… Saved our butts several times… Are you sure there’s no one like him in this kingdom?”

“I dunno anyone like this either” - Boniface responded. He was chained to the pillar of the castle, being watched by the wolf and the guardian - “H-hey, don’t you think they exaggerated a little… Why chaining me?!” - he was glancing at the five Chosen Child.

“Because you’re dangerous, inmate!” - Flannery gritted her teeth.

“Don’t you think they went too far?” - Ken whispered to Dai - “Since we captured him, his behavior and mood changed drastically.”

“I don’t trust him” - Dai looked away - “I don’t trust a blond guy like him.”

“Daisuke-kun!” - Hikari snorted.

“A-ah, I’m sorry– I mean, I trust Takeru but not HIM. He tried to kill me! And you!”

“Warlock-san” - Iori was too busy seeing a few photos in the library. One of them caught the little kid’s attention - “This person looks like a friend of ours” - then he pointed at it - “Who’s he?”

“Who?” - the other Chosen frowned, then looked to the picture Iori was asking about - “Koushiro-san?!”

“Ah?” - Warlock stopped reading and adjusted his glasses, then he replied - “That’s my big brother, Diomedes. He’s the prince of Scientia Terra. Our family has this branch where a few of us are wizards… And some are devoted to the knowledge. Don’t you remember of him, Lance? You met him once.”

“Koushiro-san from this world is Warlock-san’s big brother?!” - Ken was completely lost.

“Did I?” - Dai blinked - “Oh wait… Hmm… Was that time you had to give me a name and you used ‘Dai’ because Lance Duskstella could’ve given you troubles to keep me in Scientia Terra? Ah yes, as far as I remember… He’s very Koushiro-ish.”

“Can we call him, Warlock-san?” - Hikari asked.

“We don’t talk that much… Like I said, he’s obsessed with learning about the world and how it works. I’m the one who decided to follow the wizardry path of our family. I meet him only when is needed, because I prefer to stay studying and learning spells.”

“This is an emergency!” - Dai said - “What if I go there? I can try to call him so he could come help us.”

“I’m…”

“If you don’t try, then our world will be forever doomed! And I didn’t get this second chance for nothing!”

“Fine…” - Warlock sighed - “You convinced me. I will call Diomedes, it won’t take that much time” - he left the Library. During that time, Ken decided to talk to Boniface again.

“You are not an enemy at all” - Ken began - “I can make them free you if you cooperate with us. Do we have a deal?”

“I’m not sure if I have other option” - Boniface sighed - “Sure, I will help. I’m willing to help to compensate for all the grief and sorrow I caused.”

“Why would he help us?” - Dai stopped behind Ken - “I don’t think he knows something–”

“You said a person named Sienna sent you to kill Lia-san” - Ken said seriously - “Could you describe her?”

“What do you plan to do, outsider?” - Boniface bit his lips.

“Sienna…” - Dai repeated - “You must be kidding…!! Sienna wouldn’t do that! She was like a big sister to me! She wouldn’t– No she–”

“She never liked Lia Duskstella for all the suffering she caused to the country and especially for your death. I lived with her once Purezza got destroyed. Since we shared the same pain I… Promised to revenge her and Purezza.”

“… I’m sorry. This is all my fault. Because I opened the box and released this evil in this world…” - Dai clenched his fist again - “Sienna… I don’t have too many memories of her at the moment…”

“Okay,” - Ken interrupted him - “Could you please describe her?”

“She’s a brave woman who loves everyone and the life” - Boniface started to describe that ‘Sienna’ - “short red hair, a skin a bit tan, a lovely gaze…”

“Wow, his description is like Sora-san’s” - Hikari commented.

“SORA-SAN!” - Dai screamed - “The strange dreams…!! I’ve seen a woman who looked like Sora-san and she was with Taichi-san in a dream… I remember…!! Those were Sienna and Helios! It was a memory!”

“This means we discovered who has the Core of Love?” - Armadimon asked.  
“Most likely” – Tailmon commented.  
“So now we have to find her, right?” - Patamon questioned.

“Look, Sienna will kill Lia if you put them in the same place” - Boniface explained - “She hates her. For losing a fianceé, for losing Lance, for having her country ruled by a monster–”

“Lia is NOT a monster!” - Dai roared - “If you have someone to hate, put the blame on me! All those shouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t opened that box!”

“We can protect everyone from Sienna” - Amis pointed at him with his thumb - “We have another pair of chains too.”

“Chaining her won’t solve anything!!” - Boniface screamed.

“Can’t we tell her it’s not Lia-san’s fault at all?” - Takeru suggested - “B-But I don’t think Lance-san was the one to blame. The darkness used him as well.”

“I dunno how would Sienna react when she sees me” - Dai confessed - “She might… not believe me.”

“I’m sorry for the wait” - Warlock returned - “I contacted Diomedes, but he’s with king Helios at this moment.”

“… I will help you to find something about the spell” - Dai announced - “the others free Boniface and try to bring Sienna here.”

“I… want to stay” - Hikari looked down - “If Sienna-san hates Lia-san so much, she will mistake me with Lia-san.”

“Takeru cannot go either” - Dai added - “Maybe you two could go get Zuzen with Flannery. Ken, Amis and Boniface go get Sienna. Iori, Warlock and I stay here and keep looking for another way to complete the enchant.”

“Right…!!” - they all agreed.

“Daisuke-san is acting like a true leader” - Iori smiled.

“Lance was a natural leader as well,” - commented Warlock - “I assume sir Daisuke is the leader in your group?”

“Most likely” - he responded - “Taichi-san and him lead the group, without them we could’ve been lost.”


	5. Plans and Gatherings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've reached the half of this arc.  
> More 5 to complete the adventure, and I'm already working on Hinode... Even not knowing that much of tri. pt6...  
> I'll have to change a few things in those 9 chapters I wrote until now... Also, trying to think how to develop Lance's arc (aka 4th Arc named "Star"), since it has some details of Lance's life and this other world.
> 
> Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter and that you're enjoying arc 3.  
> Ciao.

“Mimi-chan/Mimi-san?!” - Taichi and Koushiro exclaimed when they saw Mimi with Yamato.

“Hello!! Did you miss me?!” - she gave them a wink - “Tachikawa Mimi-sama is in position, ready for the rescue!”

“H-hold on, Mimi-chan…” - Taichi babbled - “We don’t know WHERE the kids are, except that four of them went to the Digital World this morning.”

Koushiro gave them a serious gaze and explained:

“Tentomon said Takeru-kun, Iori-kun, Ichijouji-kun and Miyako-kun were in the Digital World looking for Daisuke-kun and Hikari-san. Apparently disappeared there after talking to a Fanbeemon.”

Someone knocked on the door, and Koushiro went to open it. It was Sora dragging Jou inside the room.

“I’m sorry!” - she said - “Motomiya-senpai was too worried that I decided to spend time with her for a little longer. I brought Jou-senpai too.”

“Eh? That’s a big surprise” - Taichi rolled his eyes - “Jou’s always studying, it’s rare when he leaves his room or the cram school.”

“I had no choice!” - Jou protested - “Actually I wanted to stay out of this, but Sora-kun told me it was an emergency.”

“Did you guys acquire something new about Hikari-chan and Daisuke-kun?” - Sora asked.

“Nothing about them, but the kids were looking for them too” - Yamato responded - “I wonder why didn’t they tell us about those sudden disappearances.”

“I want to know too” - Taichi glanced at the computer - “Without them, we’re unable to open the gate, and we will have to wait until the next time it opens.”

“So there’s no way to help the kids?!” - Jou was concerned.

“I can try to ask Gennai-san to force the gate to open for us” - Koushiro replied - “But I’m not sure if he’s able to do it.”

“What if we go to the camp?” - Mimi suggested - “It was the place where we got our digivices and went to the Digital World for the first time. Maybe we can open the gate from there…!”

“That’s something I hadn’t thought about before!” - Taichi said in surprise - “Yamato, can we ask for your dad’s help again?”

“I’m not sure if we can have enough space in the van for twelve people,” - Yamato confessed - “Unless we take the bus to return.”

“I have too much to study to camp–” - Jou was interrupted by Sora’s glare.

“There’s also Motomiya-senpai” - Taichi sighed - “If we all go camping, we will have to do it WITHOUT letting her know.”

“… ‘SENPAI’?!” - Jou narrowed his eyes - “So you don’t call me by ‘senpai’, yet you call others so?!”

“That’s not time to fight each other!” - Sora stopped them - “Now, now. Only four of them went to the Digital World, but how about the other two? Did they go alone?”

“There’s no logs about opening the gate on the day Hikari-san and Daisuke-kun disappeared” – Koushiro proceeded - “Taichi-san believes they’re in another world, in the Dark Ocean’s world.”

“The Dark Ocean?” - the others, except Taichi, repeated in unison.

“Isn’t that the place Hikari-chan…” - Yamato was about to ask something, but he dropped that.

“Yeah, That’s the only place she could’ve been” - Taichi muttered - “The only place to call her many times since Miiko’s death.”

“Miiko?” - Mimi blinked.

“Yagami family’s pet cat” - explained Sora - “She died a year ago.”

“Hikari was so attached to her, just like she’s attached to me” - Taichi felt a few mixed feelings. One of them grief - “When Miiko died, she got depressed and then she started to hear the sound of waves, feel water swallowing her body, and a voice calling her. This all I know because those times she said ‘I don’t want to disappear’ to someone who I couldn’t see. ”

Silence.  
The only noise heard was Koushiro’s PC’s.

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“Lia-san, are you sure you can go alone?” - Miyako asked, they stood in front the entrance of the city - “We can go with you…!”

“It won’t take more than five minutes. We are in a hurry, and the people dislike monsters.”

“Didn’t you tell us they do not like you either?” - Hawkmon questioned.

“I will be okay. If I send lady Miyako, Helios wouldn’t come with her. The biggest problem is to convince Jason about it.”

“We can do this!!” - Miyako pointed to the skies - “Miyako-sama is able to make people come with us because I am good at persuading people! It’s my turn to shine!!”

“Dai-kun said it’s here…” - Takeru told Hikari and Flannery once they arrived in the village before the main city of Duskstella - “He said it’s the house that’s far away from the others.”

“But how would we convince him?” - Hikari asked them - “Dai-kun said he’s like Iori-kun, but how would we be able to make him come with us?”

“It won’t be by telling him that Daisuke is Lance, for sure” - Flannery answered - “The people of Duskstella believed in his lies and no one liked him anymore, except for Helios… And that girl named Sienna, according to Lance. Not sure if this person Daisuke met hates Lance…”

“Ohh, I saw someone leaving that distant house!” - Patamon pointed at the silhouette - “Hurry hurry!!”

“Wait, Patamon!” - Tailmon called him, but the digimon had gone already. The others had no choice but follow him.

“She lives here,” - Boniface pointed at the house when they stopped in front of a humble house. Amis had switched to human form to avoid trouble though.

“I…” - Ken blushed a bit - “I don’t talk too much with Sora-san, so I have no idea how to convince Sienna-san to come with us. I only talk with Miyako-san and Hikari-san…”

“We can use the good old method of chaining her” - Amis smirked.

“I already told you chaining her won’t solve anything!” - Boniface snorted.

“Kenchan, you can do it” - Wormmon encouraged him - “You did a lot of things. You can talk with her!”

“I want to… But lacking crucial knowledge about a person’s counterpart is no good for this task.”

“I will talk to her” - Boniface said - “You can explain our situation, but leave the rest to me. Knowing Lance is alive and asking for her help may make her cooperate with us.”

“He surely changed from a dangerous killer to a reasonable person” - Amis commented with Ken.

“Maybe because the old magic fighting the darkness is activated again with Motomiya-kun’s presence here…” - Ken wondered.

“How will we help them, Iori?” - Armadimon glanced at his partner, who was still looking at the other two reading books, parchments and manuscripts - “We’re unable to help them, dagya.”

“Those stuff is in Latin, but… I never studied it” - Iori seemed down - “Daisuke-san– Dai-san, can you read those?”

“Ah? Yeah I can. Since I recovered those memories, I’m able to read, but some are not even Latin here… I never was that good at runic language.”

“I want to help too…!” - Iori approached from the table - “I can’t just keep watching you two working…!”

“I dunno… This is a hard job, Iori. If you could read those…”

“I can try to look for pictures, something relevant must exist!”

“Pictures…” - Warlock muttered… and got up from the table, going back to the book shelves. He was now looking for something, something…. - “It must be somewhere in this shelf…”

Iori felt some curiosity behind the mage’s behavior, but Dai was too busy reading and forcing himself to remember how to read runics that he didn’t realize when Warlock returned with a big old book with almost 50 pages and put them on the table.

“I forgot about this one” - he commented - “My aunt used to read it to me, it was written by my great grandfather. It might include something about the seal here.”

“Oh… does it have pictures?” - the goggle boy innocently asked.

“Lance… We don’t have time for jokes.”

“No, I mean… Iori wanted to help to find something, and he’s pretty smart! He nailed a lot of things past year!”

“D-Daisuke-san I…” - Iori blushed.

“Yes, it has pictures” - Warlock answered - “this is why it could’ve been easy to find something interesting in it…!” - he opened the book, with Dai and Iori standing side by side to look at it.

“Nothing, nothing, nothing…”  
“Oi, you’re doing too fast, Warlock!”  
“Hm…”

“What should we do, Armadimon?” - Vee was left behind with the armadillo-like digimon - “It’s not like we can do too much.”

“I believe in Iori, dagya! And we can believe them. Do you trust Daisuke, V-mon?”

“I do, but all watching and no action is making me sleepy. Where’s the Black Tailmon who used to be here, Warlock?”

The boys were too busy to pay attention to the blue digimon.

“Geez.”

“Do you want to talk about something, dagya?”

“The others are definitely having fun more than us…! Also how did Daisuke let Hikari go with Takeru?! This sounds like he’s out of himself…!”

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“We’re going camping then?” - Taichi asked the group, while Koushiro was trying to call Gennai - “Our vacations are ending, maybe we should try go to the Digital World.”

“Wouldn’t be risky to go all of us?” – mama Sora in action. Always concerned with everyone.

“Koushiro and I can stay in the human world” - Jou made an offer - “you go there and find the kids as soon as possible.”

“I’m not sure what I will do, but…” - Mimi commented - “I will help. If the kids need us, then we should be good seniors and help them, right Sora-san?”

“I agree…” - she responded.

“Okay, then we all go camping” - Taichi began - “And from there, Yamato, Sora, Mimi-chan and I go to the Digital World. Koushiro and Jou stay here, in the human world.”

“You forgot my ‘-senpai’… Again” - Jou was still bitter.

“Are you kidding me, right?!”

“This is not the right time to argue!” - Yamato interrupted them - “Hikari-chan and Daisuke are missing. The kids didn’t tell us and might be in trouble now!”

“I got news!” - Koushiro called the attention of them all - “Gennai-san said he can try to force the gate from the Camp to open for us.”

“Yosh! We’re going there tomorrow,” - Taichi explained the plan - “If Takeru and the others don’t find them or not return home today, we will go to the Digital World and help’em!”

“Why are you implying they won’t come home?” - Yamato started at Taichi - “They can’t spend the entire night looking for them!”

“I’m concerned about them, but what will we tell Motomiya-senpai?” - Sora asked them, but mostly to change the subject and stop Yamato and Taichi - “If I had a little brother like Daisuke-kun, I should’ve been worried with him.”

“… Talk to her, Sora” - both Yamato and Taichi replied her.

“M-me?!”

“You’re more cautious than all of us together” - Taichi smiled - “You’re like a mother, so you can handle it by yourself.”

Sora blushed.

“I’m n-not like a mother…!”

“Suuuuuuuuuuure…”

The group chuckled, Sora stared at them all.

“I will talk with Motomiya-senpai, but I’m not like a mother…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It never was explained when or why Hikari started to have contact with the Dark Ocean. And since 02 does not show Miiko I decided to roll with the idea that Hikari got depression because of the loss.
> 
> A bit of info about me is that once it happened to me. I had a bird I loved so much and one day she got her head stuck inside a plastic bowl where she used to eat her food... We didn't notice it at all, we only learned that she had died on the next day. It made me depressed, and I didn't want to have another bird because I was afraid of losing them again.
> 
> So yes, I think Hikari having depression because of Miiko's death could've been interesting.


	6. What Gives You Energy?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a Miyako-centric chapter. Though it was divided with a few scenes from Ken & Takeru-Hikari.  
> Four chapters left for the finale.
> 
> And I'm still wondering how will I post Lance-centered arc. Ah, and I'll have to fix a few things in Hinode...

“Your majesty, I came to offer a deal. It had been a while since the fiasco of the Dusktella family, and you being the first non-Duskstella ruler caught the world’s attention.”

Diomedes sounded boring. Helios couldn’t keep awake while listening to that, heck he was an action man!! He’s honest, loyal, charming and humble.

“… And my parents think this is an opportunity to restore alliances between our lands.”

His eyelids were pretty heavy…

“A-are you… listening to?”

“Ah!!” -  _crap!!_  - “I’m listening to you, d-don’t worry!! So, you want to be partners with Duskstella now that the scandals were over? Uh… I think that’s okay. I’m still trying to… fix former queen Lia’s mistakes. It’s not like she will do something again, she was pretty depressed since Lance’s–”

Jason entered in the room, running with Lia and Miyako coming behind him. Hawkmon had been in Miyako’s arms, pretending to be a plush.

“Your Majesty!” - Jason stopped in front the two monarchs - “the princess and this milady said they have something important to tell you.”

“Huh?!” - Helios blinked.

“We don’t have time for this now…!” - Diomedes seemed a little impatient.

“No, let them talk… Lia wouldn’t come here if it weren’t important. And I assure you, she changed since Lance’s–”

“It’s about my brother, Helios” - Lia interrupted him - “Warlock told me to bring you to his castle, there’s an important announcement to be done. You and Jason are important. As well prince Diomedes.”

“Uh… About Lance?” - and the king of Duskstella was still trying to understand the message. If Lia is saying it’s about her brother… This means it must be important.

 _“He really looks like Taichi-san”_  - Miyako thought -  _“Even his aura. Is he really a king? Well, knowing Daisuke was actually a prince brother of a girl that looks like Hikari-chan… O-oh wait, that redhead one looks like Izumi-senpai…!! Is he…!!”_

“Your majesty” - Miyako was really determined yet nervous to talk to someone who looked like a friend of hers - “Please, come with us. It’s urgent…! Warlock-san said we need your and Jason-san’s help…!”

“Warlock again…” - Diomedes sighed - “He called me a few minutes later, said to come see him as soon as possible. I wonder what is he plotting…”

“You know Warlock-san?” - the Chosen Child frowned.

“He’s Warlock’s big brother” - Lia whispered to Miyako - “But they don’t talk too much. Prince Diomedes is always busy with royal affairs while Warlock dedicates his life to wizardry.”

“Warlock-san’s big brother?!”

“Yes,” - Diomedes answered, a little confused with that girl’s reaction - “Warlock is my little sibling. Our paths had made us be a bit distant from each other, but we still find some time to discuss about crucial details of Scentia Terra.”

 _“Warlock-san is a prince?!”_  - Miyako was completely blushing hard, imagining Warlock with a crown, cape and prince attire -  _“Oh my… If Ken-kun were a prince, I… !!!”_

“Milady? Are you okay?” - Jason seemed concerned with Miyako’s state.

“Psst, Miyako-san” - Hawkmon whispered, and gently poked her with his elbow… Without letting anyone realize it - “This is not the right time to daydream…!!”

“Eh?!” - Miyako blinked, once realized that she had been watched by the other four… - “A-ah, I’m fine! Just overthinking, hahaha!!” - that was a nervous laugh.

“That doll looks too realistic too…” - Jason commented - “Looks like that blue monster…”

“Well, since we’re going to Scentia Terra,” - Helios was now talking to Diomedes - “What if we talk about it when we’re there? Lia says there’s something about Lance to be said…”

“I assume Warlock wouldn’t want to wait for much time” - he mused - “Since he also requires your presence…”

“That’s it, we’re going” - the king announced - “Jason, let the council know I’m doing an emergency visit to Scientia Terra. Lia, I know you know some way to go there as far as possible, right? And I believe this girl with you comes from Daisuke’s world and her plush is… a monster?”

“H-how do you know?!” - Miyako and Hawkmon gasped.

“I’m not that dumb like I look!” - he chuckled - “And your clothing is different from this world’s.”

“A-ah…” - they blinked.

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“Sienna, I’m back” - Boniface announced, the other two coming right after him - “I brought two friends I made in the way. They– We want to talk to you.”

A lady was cleaning the house. She put the broom aside and looked directly at the boys. The youngest of them was Ken, and she was wearing a red medieval dress. Ken realized her eyes were odd… Different from Sora’s. Was it what Warlock and Dai had told about corruption?

He noticed she grabbed something… a knife? And approached from them with a smile. The Chosen Child was sure she was about to try to kill him, since he was full of light and the darkness hated it. Wormmon silently, left the scene, making no one see where he was going, but Ken knew what he was about to try.

“You’re back, Boniface” - she smiled - “Have you finished your job? What does these two wanderers want with me?”

“You must be Sienna-san” - Ken began talking to her - “I’m from another world, and we came to ask for your help to save this world. My name’s Ken, and this is…”

“I’m Amis Lupe, nice to meet you… I guess” - Amis was blushing, and Ken was sure he hadn’t noticed the knife - “I’m a servant from Master Warlock from Scientia Terra. He told me to guide you to his castle because he’d like to talk about Lance.”

Then she stopped, Wormmon was right behind her now, still not visible because he was on the ceiling. Only Ken saw him there and him did the classic “shh” signal. Ken decided to engage the conversation a little more.

“Actually, Warlock-san would like to reveal you something about Lance-san. You know Lance-san, right?”

“Lance… He’s dead” - she looked down for a moment - “What would this Warlock want to reveal to me?! Lance… He was a good child, he didn’t deserve this end…!!”

“Lance’s alive, Sienna” - Boniface interrupted them all - “And he needs your help to save this world.”

“This is the stupidest lie you can tell me!” - she pointed the knife to the boys - “I saw Lance’s execution, I was there…!! He died in front my eyes! In front of everyone’s eyes!”

“H-hold on, milady!” - Amis felt completely scared of her change of mood - “We’re not lying, Lance is alive. He’s in the castle, waiting for you…!!”

“Liar!”

“Now!” - Ken yelled, and Wormmon disarmed Sienna with his silk, stealing the knife from her hand. She looked behind her and saw the digimon.

“W-what?!”

Amis then switched to his Black Weregarurumon form and immobilized Sienna while she was distracted. Ken thought they could’ve been able to convince her to cooperate without brute force…

“L-Let me go!!” - she shouted - “I knew you two weren’t good people!”

“Kenchan is a good person!” – shouted Wormmon - “He tried to talk to you! You decided to not believe him!” - and he was in the ground all again, pointing the knife at Sienna - “You evil human!!”

“She’s not evil” - Ken corrected him - “She’s corrupted, just like it was said.”

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“Hello!!” - Patamon stopped in front Zuzen, who got surprised with a monster around the village - “Are you scared? You seem like Iori! A-ah… Can we talk, please?”

“I’m not Iori– Wait… Wasn’t that name that wanderer with his monster called me before?” - he asked himself - “Do you know them? A kid named Daisuke and a monster named V-mon?”

“Patamon!!” - Takeru stopped behind the flying digimon - “Don’t chase people like that! You might scare them!” – and Patamon fled directly to Takeru’s arms - “Did you find him?”

“Y-you…!” - Zuzen was surprised - “You don’t look like from here…!”

“We’re not from this world” - Hikari approached - “I’m not Lia-san, don’t worry. We need you to come with us, please.”

“Come with you…? Why?” - He didn’t trust them.

“My master would like to talk about an important subject, my child” - Flannery replied - “You’re like me, aren’t you?”

“You smell like a hybrid” - Zuzen commented - “… Fine, I’ll go with you, but I’m not Iori!”

“We know that” - Tailmon smiled - “I’m Tailmon, my partner is Hikari. These two are Takeru, Patamon and she’s Flannery.”

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They were all moving directly to the portal, but a dark digimon stood in front of them. Miyako decided she and Hawkmon had to do something. She got up from the horse carriage and went directly against the digimon.

“W-what is she doing?!” - Jason gasped in terror - “She’s going to die!!”

“I assume she won’t” - Lia tried to calm him down - “She came from another world where she and that monster fight evil monsters together.”

“Time to shine, Hawkmon!” - Miyako told her partner, then she looked at the others - “I’ll distract it, you go without us!!”

“She’s pretty brave” - Helios grinned - “OK, ready? Go!!”

Hawkmon evolved to Aquilamon in time and grabbed the Fangmon – a wolf-like digimon with a long muzzle, red fur, scary fangs and claws – with his claws and opened the way to the horse carriage pass. Yes, they passed at full speed and left Miyako behind.

“They’re gone, Aquilamon!” - she shouted at the majestic bird - “You can let them go now!”

Fangmon wouldn’t let Aquilamon win, so it attacked him with its claws. Aquilamon let it go and the digimon fell on the ground. Fangmon then shot a blast of dark energy at Aquilamon, but the bird-like monster dodged. Miyako grabbed a few rocks from the ground and started throwing them at the enemy.

“Leave. Him. Alone. NOW!”

Fangmon glanced at her and went in her direction, with those dangerous claws ready to tear the insolent human girl into pieces. Aquilamon dived in and hit the digimon with its horns, lifting Fangmon by its back.

“You didn’t need to do that, Miyako-san!” - Aquilamon wasn’t happy.

“I’m sorry sorry…!!” - She gave herself a light punch in the head - “Aaah, watch out!!”

Fangmon returned attacked them with the dark wave, but… A light came from Miyako, a heliotrope lavender light. It absorbed the dark energy and transformed it into pure, white aether. Miyako felt more livid and energetic enough to lift a giant rock! But she wouldn’t do that. The symbol in front her looked like the one from the manuscripts…!

“Is that… My crest?” - She questioned herself - “What’s the meaning of this one?”

“Energy” - Aquilamon’s eyes were reflecting that crest and glowing in lavender - “The energetic soul that keeps us moving forward.”

“A-Aquilamon?!” – she gasped, then she pointed directly to Fangmon - “Aquilamon, let’s solve this, right now!!”

Aquilamon nodded and then fired ring-shaped beams from his mouth against Fangmon, but the difference was that the color of those were just like the same lavender color from the light. The waves didn’t kill Fangmon, it actually purified the foe, who seemed less violent later. Their opponent left, and they were alone in the dirt road again.

“We did it…!!” - Miyako smiled, but then the light disappeared and Aquilamon devolved to Hawkmon - “Oh Hawkmon, you were great!!” - she grabbed the digimon and gave him a hug - “My wonderful knight! We did it…!!”

“M-Miyako-san…!!” - Hawkmon blushed.

“Miyako-san!” - Ken was coming in their direction, Amis still holding Sienna and Boniface right behind Ken - “Are you okay??”

“I was in battle but…” - she answered - “… I did it. I discovered my crest!”

“Did you?!” - he opened a grin, then dropped it immediately - “Where’s the others?”

“They went ahead” - Hawkmon explained - “A wild corrupted Fangmon tried to stop us.”

“Oh…We had a little trouble to deal with Sienna-san” - Ken looked directly to the woman still fighting to escape from Amis’ arms - “She’s still resisting.”

“Who are you?!” - Sienna roared - “Let me go! I’m not going to Scientia Terra with you! Boniface, how could you betray me?!”

“She’s still… Corrupted” - Ken told Miyako and Hawkmon.

“Maybe we can purify her like we did with Fangmon!” - Miyako smiled, then grabbed her D-3 and pointed it directly to Sienna - “Go go, purification power!!”

The symbol appeared again in the screen and the same light from behind was released in Sienna. The corrupted rebel lady stopped trying to free herself from Amis’ arms and her eyes changed, becoming more lively and full of light.

“Why… Why do you want to lie to me?” - Sienna was sobbing now - “Lance was everything to me, he was like my little brother… I don’t want to go to Scientia Terra, I don’t want to help strangers. Leave me alone–”

“Lance is alive, Sienna” - Boniface tried to talk with her again - “At least trust me. He’s alive and wants to see you. Wouldn’t want to see him again?”

“If he’s alive… Then… Why didn’t he come back?”

“Because your people hated him, remember?”

“Ah… I forgot they believed in Lance’s lie…”

“Did you tell–” - Miyako was about to say something, but Ken covered her mouth.

“Don’t,” - he whispered to her.

“Let’s go, they’re waiting for us” - Boniface told the others.

“Hikari-chan and Takeru-kun are coming, did they get it?” - Miyako wondered.

“Seems likely” - Hawkmon said, glancing at the horizon, with Pegasmon and Nefertimon coming in their direction.

“Miyako-san, Ken-kun!!” - Hikari waved at them. They approached and stopped in front the group - “Huh, where’s Lia-san and Helios-san?”

“They went ahead because we had to distract a digimon” - Miyako said - “So did you…”

“Yes, we did it” - Pegasmon responded - “This kid here is Zuzen, he’s a little different from what we thought.”

“He’s a hybrid like me and Amis” - Flannery added - “But, not an hybrid who can hide its other form that well… Or completely transform.”

“W-wait, you can transform too?!” - Miyako babbled.

“This is not time for that. We need to go back as fast as we can.”


	7. What Makes You Fair?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3 to go.
> 
> I like this chapter better because of Iori. I'm always afraid how to write/doodle him, so when I feel I can do something worth with him, I _really_ feel relieved.

“We’re still looking and looking and nothing!” - Dai sighed - “Are you sure there’s something in this book??”

“Affirmative” - Warlock said - “Just keep focused, we might find something.”

“Those pictures have nothing calling my attention, I’m sorry” - Iori seemed sad, it was like he couldn’t do that much since none of those were in Japanese or English (though his English was very limited compared to the other kids).

“No need to apologize, sir Iori” - Warlock has been nice to the youngest child since they had met - “Your motivation is enough. You should rest a bit.”

“Like we could help something” - V-mon kept complaining - “Hmph, we’re just sitting here doing nothing than… Oi, Armadimon? Are you listening to me?!”

Armadimon had fallen asleep.  
Iori walked towards the digimon and sat with them on the couch. Yes, Warlock’s castle was very VERY different from a medieval story. It was like… Steampunk.

“This is…”

The kid was still amazed with that place, enough to go investigating the library. Something caught his attention… It was a book, with its own way to shine. Warlock and Dai were too busy looking at the other book, they didn’t pay him attention. He needed someone’s help to get that one, since it was out of reach.

“V-mon” - and he had only one boring digimon to resort - “Can you help me here?”

“What is it?” – and Vee was too bored to refuse - “Oh I see… That shining book. You want to look at that book?”

“Yes, can you help me to get it?”

“Evolving could’ve been the best idea, but…” - the blue digimon looked at Dai - “Daisuke is too busy to evolve me.”

“Armadimon is sleeping and I do not want to bug him… And he couldn’t be able to help as Digmon. Evolving him to Akylomon could’ve destroyed the room.”

“True…” - Vee nodded.

“We need to find someone who’s able to help us, V-mon.”

“Sure, I’ll help you,” - He gave an annoyed gaze at Dai and Warlock - “It’s better than waiting for YOUR PARTNER do something more than reading books!” - But Dai ignored him.

“He’s trying his best, and I want to be able to do something too” - Iori muttered, but V-mon was too upset with Dai to pay attention.

The duo left the library, searching for Black Tailmon. V-mon was sure she could help them, but she had disappeared since the time he and Daisuke had returned to the castle, way before the actual events. Amis could’ve been a good choice, but he was with Ken and Boniface at the moment. Flannery too, but she was with Hikari and Takeru. Looking for someone in the surroundings to help get a book is a hard task, especially when your partner is sleeping and your companion is your friend’s digimon.

Iori had no idea how to solve his problem.

Until… He and Vee met a white cloaked Wizarmon.

The digimon seemed lost, searching for something outside. Iori and V-mon looked at each other and decided to investigate that digimon. They left the castle and went to his encounter, trying to not scare the poor wizard-like digimon.

“Um, are you looking for something?” - Iori engaged the conversation.

The digimon had strange eyes, but V-mon was too bored to notice that.

“Ah yes” - the white Wizarmon replied - “I’m looking for the Mystic Library of Scientia Terra.”

“Mystic library?” – both Vee and Iori repeated, exclaiming.

“It’s said to be in this castle, and I need to find it as soon as possible” - he explained - “There’s something I have to fix, and only a book’s spell can do the job.”

“Maybe Warlock knows” - V-mon talked to Iori - “He’s in the castle’s library right now.”

“Maybe?” - Iori rested his chin on hand - “I think the library is this ‘Mystic Library’, so we should help him.”

“Can you?” - the lost digimon smiled - “I’m Sorcerymon, I came from another kingdom.”

“I’m Hida Iori, and this is V-mon” - Iori introduced themselves - “The castle’s entrance is this way, please come with us.”

Once Iori and V-mon turned back to Sorcerymon, the digimon smirked… But why?

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It was getting late. All the kids were at home now, only Taichi remained in Koushiro’s room and he was pretty silent… Watching the D-terminal.

Koushiro was again talking to Tentomon and telling him to gather the other digimon, to tell them keep an eye on something suspicious… To find the younger kids. He also had to deal with this chat with Jun and keeping her updated about the mystery. But he was sure he will have to ask the younger ones to explain themselves about their silence.

He decided to not be rude, because depending on their story he wouldn’t be that mad. But he felt they didn’t trust him. That they could’ve talked to him and he would’ve helped them at the best…!! He wasn’t angry at all! Just…  _worried._

“Maybe you should go home.”

Koushiro broke the silence between them.

“You have to, you need to keep giving support to Hikari-san and Daisuke-kun while they’re not around.”

“Ah. I know” - Taichi didn’t want to leave. His body couldn’t move, he was too petrified at the moment. He was waiting for her answer. Her?  _Hikari._

“Taichi-san, this is not a game.”

 _“Yes, I know that.”_ \- Taichi replied, but inside his mind.

“You need to go home, I will keep working on it here. If I find something, I will contact you immediately.”

“… Right.”

He got up from the bed and left the room. When he was on the streets, he was pretty lost and not paying attention at all… All he did was hear someone screaming at him to stop because the signal was red for pedestrians.

He gasped, he looked around and saw of that girl, Geijutsushi, behind him. He used to know thanks to the fact she was the granddaughter of Jou’s cram school’s teacher. Yes, she… She lived in the same apartment complex of his, but mostly…

“You… You’re from Daisuke’s building right?” - he asked.

She kept in silence.

“Did you see him lately?” - Taichi insisted.

“I don’t know, I don’t talk to him” - she looked away - “Just because we live next to each other, and study in the same class does not mean I know.”

The pedestrian signal turned green and she left him alone. Taichi followed her, but not because he was chasing the girl, but mostly because he was heading home. He noticed she was holding some groceries, so he believes she was going home as well. But why had he thought she would’ve known something about Daisuke’s disappearance?

Yet, they followed each other for a while… Until they got separated, going to their own buildings.

For some reason, Taichi was bugged by the girl’s answer. Or… _How she changed since the last time he had seen her with her grandma._

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“This way” - Iori guided Sorcerymon to the next corridor, leading him to the library’s door. when they arrived, Iori and Vee opened the door, but the wizard-like monster closed it - “Huh?”

“I’m sorry but… The guardian of the Mystic Library never let intruders in.”

“You’re not an intruder” - V-mon babbled - “You came to ask for Warlock’s help, right?”

“Actually… I’m interested on a shining book. He might not borrow it to me.”

“But taking it without Warlock-san’s permission is theft!” - Iori argued - “We must tell him–”

“I’m unwelcome here. I used to work in this castle, but I got banished and went to live in Purezza. I just want to take a look in that book, please.”

“You will give it back to us once you’re done, right?” - the youngest Chosen Child tried to negotiate with the digimon - “I… I was interested on that book too, but I can’t read…”

“We can make a deal: I get the book and the spell and I read the book for you.”

“Would you do that for us?!” - Vee gasped.

“You’re too generous unlike the cruel mage there” - Sorcerymon smiled - “I will do anything you want, young human and blue monster.”

“I don’t think we should do this without Warlock-san’s consent…” - Iori seemed uncomfortable with that, but the book… He wanted to see THAT one, he wanted to help them…!!

“I give you my word that I will give it back to Warlock” - the white cloaked digimon made a vow.

V-mon and Iori open the door a little, and Sorcerymon used his staff to attract the book to his hands. The book flew gracefully from the shelf to the digimon’s hand. Dai didn’t realize that at all… But Warlock.

“Gotcha!” - Sorcerymon winked to the kid and blue digimon - “Now let’s go… I will recover Master’s powers…”

“Wait… What?!”

Sorcerymon shoved Iori and V-mon aside and ran away. The two got up and chased him, Iori now regretting for making a deal with that digimon… But he was nice…!! Why??!

Armadimon woke up with the sound outside, and looked around. Where did Iori go?! Also V-mon… They weren’t there. Warlock glanced at the shelf and finally understood… The shining book…!!

“Armadimon, can you find them??” - both Warlock and Dai said, panicked.

“I got it, dagya!”

They left the library and followed the armadillo-like digimon.

“This is all my fault!!” - Iori was desperate - “I… I wanted to help Dai-san and I ended up messing it up!!”

“Oi, not your fault!” - V-mon shouted - “Time for some… V-MON HEADBUTT!!”

V-mon hit Sorcerymon with his head, making the enemy drop the book, but the digimon was still stronger than Daisuke’s partner. He was grabbed by the tail and thrown against Iori, knocking both down.

“Do you think a small monster like you can beat me? The grand Sorcerymon?!” - the wizard-like digimon laughed and started to float - “Now then… You’re going to suffer!”

“I-Iori, are you o-okay?” - Vee asked, jumping straight to the floor and helping Iori to get up.

“I… I am… B-But we need to retrieve the book…!!”

“This book?” - Sorcerymon snapped his fingers and the object flew directly to him - “This is the key to recover Master’s powers. You helped, little human.”

“Iori!!” - Armadimon shouted and stopped by Iori’s and V-mon’s side - “Are you okay, dagya?”

“Where’s Daisuke?!” - Vee snorted - “We have a thief! We need to kick some–”

“V-mon!! Iori!!” - Daisuke came next, with Warlock behind him - “Are you okay??”

They were outside now, with an eerie Sorcerer-like digimon threatening them all. The book in hands made Warlock gasp.

“That book… Get that book back, please!” - he told Dai and Iori - “It has too powerful spells… It can create another shining light like the one Lia did!”

“Got it. Take the book back, dagya” - Armadimon nodded, then glanced at the opponent - “Iori, evolve me!”

“R-right…!” - Iori agreed -  **“Knowledge Digimental Up!!”**

**Armadimon armor evolve…!! Steel Knowledge, Digmon!!**

“Let’s settle this on one-a-one, Sorcerymon!” - Digmon shouted - “Gold Rush!!” - and he shot his drills from his nose and arms against the enemy, who dodged - “Give it back!!”

“You will perish here!” - Sorcerymon raised his hand - “Crystal Cloud!!” - the clouds began gathering, covering the sky. Suddenly, a blizzard fell up them all… With Sorcerymon laughing maniacally about his victims.

“I’m freezing…!!” - Dai glanced at his feet - “I’m literally freezing!”

“Digmon, we need to do something and quickly!” - Iori gasped - “Or we will all be frozen!”

“I wish I could do something, but the enemy is pretty strong!” - he replied.

“No. We’re stronger than him!” - Iori raised his voice - “Because we fight fair and square!”

A light came from Iori’s chest, filling Digmon with strength. The symbol was just like one of the symbols from the manuscript. A Burgundy light… Digmon’s eyes were glowing in the same color.

“What’s is it…?!” - Dai blinked - “Is that…?!”  
“The symbol of Fairness” - Warlock was surprised, with wide eyes.

“That’s my crest…?” - Iori blinked.

“You’re done for, Sorcerymon!” - Digmon shouted, and then he shot his drills against the enemy again. This time those were faster and hit the wizard monster, who dropped the book on the floor - “Get over it, dagya!”

“N-no!!”

“Now, Digmon!!”- said Iori, Dai and Vee all together.

Digmon broke the ice from his legs with the drills and flew, and in the air… The digimon released a wave of the same color of the light shining in his eyes. Instead of killing Sorcerymon, the digimon got a purification hit… Eliminating the darkness in his heart.

The blizzard stopped once the sorcerer has beaten. The ice freezing them also disappeared magically.

“Digmon… you did it!” - Iori smiled - “You saved us! And retrieved the book!”

“That’s nothing, dagya” - Digmon said and then reverted to Armadimon form - “But what happened, why were you and V-mon with him?”

“A-ah, I’m sorry Warlock-san!!” – Iori bowed his head at Warlock - “I… I’m sorry! Deeply sorry! I wanted to read what was inside that book, but… I ended up letting it to be almost stolen…!!”

“It’s okay” - he smiled - “You did the right thing, sir Iori. You recognized a mistake and went to fix it. If you had said beforehand that you wanted the book, I should’ve gotten it for you.”

“But I didn’t want to disturb you and Dai-san!”

“Eh, it’s okay Iori” - Dai chuckled - “No sweat!”

_“Heeeeey, we’re baaaaaaack!!”_

Miyako appeared in the horizon, with a large group of people. Helios, Diomedes, Lia, Ken, Amis, Boniface, Sienna, Takeru, Hikari, Flannery and Zuzen. With them, Hawkmon, Tailmon, Patamon and Wormmon.

“They’re all here,” - Warlock was surprised - “Incredible…!”

“Yo, guys… You missed Iori’s greatest act ever” - Dai put a hand on Iori’s shoulder - “Ah, playtime is over. Let’s talk.”


	8. The message.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just two more chapters to be done!!

They – Helios, Sienna, Diomedes, Jason and Zuzen – were looking at Daisuke. All of them. Lia just approached him.

“We got them all, brother.”

“B-Brother?!” - The five exclaimed - “What?!”

Ken, Miyako, Takeru, Hikari, Flannery, Amis and Boniface just returned back to Warlock and Iori’s side. Their digimon too. That was weird… Helios, Jason and Zuzen had been told that Daisuke wasn’t Lance and now…

“Are you pulling a prank on us, Lia?” - Helios frowned - “This kid is Daisuke, not Lance.”

“Haha, I thought the same, Helios” - Dai chuckled - “Actually… My mind is clear now. I am  _him_ ,  _he_  is me. Motomiya Daisuke is the new life of Lance Duskstella.”

“H-He spoke l-like…!!” - Jason was frightened - “I-is he possessed by a g-ghost?!”

“That’s not something we see every day…” - the current king of Duskstella blinked his eyes - “So, you’re Lance…?! Talking about crazy, and no Jason… He doesn’t look like a ghost. he’s in front of us… Alive!!”

“I know this is hard to be believed, but yes. I’ve reborn in another world and age as Daisuke” - Dai explained - “In a world I’m a Chosen Child partnered with a digimon, or the monsters we have in our world.”

Sienna just approached him and touched his face. She was trying to understand it. He moved her hand through his hair while she looked inside his eyes. Daisuke’s eyes weren’t brown at the moment, they were just like Lance’s color and aura. It shocked her. It made her cry and hug him, she wanted so much to see him again that she couldn’t waste more time in checking reality. So he’s alive, but in another world and as another person now… She felt so close yet so distant from him.

“Don’t cry, Sis” - Dai gave her a warm smile and a pat on the back - “I’m fine, and I have you in the other world. But not you at all, it’s your other-self. She’s just like my big sis too. She has the Crest of Love and she loves us all.”

“Seeing Daisuke being hugged by a Sora-san-like makes me emotional” - Miyako commented to the others - “I mean… She was like… Lance-san’s big sister, right?”

“Exactly” - Helios replied Miyako’s question - “Sienna loved Lance with a burning passion enough to suffer with his death, just like Lia.”

“But that’s not time for this” - Dai said with a serious tone - “We need the cores, this is why we called you all here. You need to awake the power within your heart and give it to me, so I can seal the darkness and go home.”

“But…” - Sienna sobbed.

“My world is not this one anymore, I belong to another. I have family and friends waiting for me there!! I’m sorry that I can’t stay here for much time.”

“The daytime is over, Lance” - Warlock announced - “We should all go rest and do it tomorrow. I know you’re eager, but it won’t help your battle.”

“He’s right, Dai” - Ken said - “you have to wait until tomorrow. Everyone’s here is sleepy” - he glanced at the Chosen Children, their partners and their guests - “Just wait a little more.”

“But you have to be home or they will–”

“We can handle it by ourselves” - Takeru responded - “But the problem is… the D-terminal.”

“Oh, that’s right!” - Warlock snapped his fingers - “I can try to use my power to try contacting your world, just give me a minute.”

“C-can you do that, Warlock-san?!” - Iori gasped, all of the kids showed a smile when they heard it - “If you can, thank you so much!”

“You’re still a life saver, Warlock” - Dai grinned.

The mage kinda blushed about that compliment…

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“I’m home…” - saying that didn’t make Taichi happy. But he had to hide his concerns from his family. Hikari wasn’t around to play along, or even Tailmon. He had to cope it all alone.

“Welcome back” - his mother answered, and she frowned - “What’s wrong, Taichi?”

“Nothing. But Hikari said she will stay at Miyako-chan’s house a little longer” - he lied - “Ah, and she asked if you do not mind if we all go to camp tomorrow”

“I don’t but, why didn’t she call home to tell us that? What is happening to her?”

“I don’t know! B-But I will investigate it, mom. Ah, I’m too sleepy and I already ate at Koushiro’s house. I’ll sleep.”

“O-okay…”

He entered in his room and closed the door. With a sigh, Taichi was pretty sure his mother wouldn’t like to know the digimon were an issue all again. As far as he remembered, not all parents were supportive with the digimon business. But they had to keep protecting both worlds from the evil forces.

“I wonder if mom won’t call me later to talk about the digimon” - he muttered, then he went to his desk, sat on the chair and watched the ceiling with a depressed face.

He wanted so much to talk to Agumon right now, but Koushiro told him that their partners were searching for clues. He put the D-terminal on the desk, laid his arms on it and kept watching the portrait taken in his first adventure in the Digital World.

He was glancing at Hikari in this photo.

Suddenly a familiar voice called him…  
A voice…

_Hikari…_

“Oniichan, please! Look at me!”

He was hearing things… He looked to the photo again and saw a purple-ish light orb in front of him. He pushed the chair away in panic, falling on the ground next.

“T-Taichi-senpai!!” - now he heard Daisuke’s voice - “A-are you OK?!”

“D-Daisuke?! H-Hikari?!” - Taichi got up from the floor and stared the orb - “What the… Don’t scare me like this!! B-But, what… What is this thing? Am I crazy?!”

“You ain’t crazy” - Daisuke responded - “Listen, we don’t have much time. We’re here, in another world because we’re needed. Miyako, Iori, Ken and Takeru are with us as well so you will have to tell their families they’re fine.”

“B-But… How?!”

“Tell them we’re in the Digital World because of an emergency! You can’t tell them we’re on a sleepover at someone’s home!” - Takeru explained - “Please, Taichi-san.”

“But tell them will make them–”

“This is no time to objections!” - now he heard Ken’s voice - “Yagami-san, please. This is the best and closest answer you can give to our families. My parents already know about Wormmon, they will just be worried but at least will know where I am.”

“My grandpa knows about Armadimon too” - Iori added - “We will totally give you support!”

“My sisters have digimon now” - Miyako explained - “They will just want to come with you, but they will understand if you tell them this is something only I can do and help you to keep mom and dad calm.”

“My sis has a digimon too” - Daisuke spoke again - “She doesn’t care about me, but if you tell her that… She might cooperate–”

“She cares about you!” - Taichi interrupted him - “Daisuke, she’s pretty worried with your sudden disappearance. What are you doing?! Why didn’t you tell us?! Do you think you can do those alone?!”

“… I wanted to send everyone home, but they said the same” - the goggle boy looked away - “I know I can’t do this alone, but I can’t just drag everyone in either… Please, Taichi-senpai! You need to help us there!”

Taichi’s silence made Daisuke uncomfortable.  
Inside, Taichi was questioning himself.  _Why, why didn’t he tell me? Why didn’t he trust me?_ but that wasn’t the case.

“… I’m sorry for not telling you” - Daisuke seemed upset. Not with Taichi, but with himself - “I couldn’t tell you because I was summoned from out of the blue. No one knew. I wouldn’t have hidden it from you because… You’re my friend.”

That silence wasn’t helping at all…

“Oniichan” - Hikari talked now - “Please, do it for all of us. We will be home once we’re done. Don’t worry, I’m okay. I’m with the Chosen Children. Please, tell mom the truth.”

“Will… Will they all understand it?” - Taichi muttered - “Will they all be okay with you all being in the Digital World for a while?” - he now asked with a clear voice.

“Maybe…” - Daisuke responded - “A-ah, we need to go now… Tell the others the truth though. And don’t worry, this ain’t the Dark Ocean’s world. I can assure you that.”

“Wait, Daisuke–”

The orb disappeared. Taichi was perplexed, but he knew what to do.

**To: Chosen Children  
From: Yagami Taichi**

 

> _Guys! I talked to Hikari and Daisuke. I know where they are! They… They told me to keep their families calm about them. We gotta tell their families they’re in the Digital World. They’re not in the Digital World though… BUT Daisuke said they’re not in the Dark Ocean’s world. So MAYBE they’re fine._
> 
> _I actually wouldn’t want to risk and say let them do it, but… How would we go there?! By the Digital World?!  – Taichi_

The message reached Koushiro, Mimi, Sora, Yamato and Jou at the morning.

“Wait, Takeru too?!” - Yamato asked Taichi on text, replying to the text.  
“Let’s do what they asked us to do” - Sora’s reply was more reasonable.  
“Agreed” - said Jou and Koushiro, replying to Sora’s response.  
“Another world huh?” - Mimi’s text was vague.

“What, what do you guys talking about?!” - Taichi was reading and snorted - “The kids needs us. We need to go!” - he typed those very fast.

“But the kids know what they’re doing. We taught them all we know” - Sora kept answering him - “They can do it by themselves. Have faith in them, Taichi.”

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“Mornin’…”

A sleepy Dai got up for his new day and everyone was already in the living room.

“You’re late” - Lia told him.

“I guess I had to sleep a little more because” - he yawned - “It’s like having two personalities. Daisuke wanted to sleep more, Lance couldn’t sleep really well… Sorry.”

“Daisuke sleeps a lot, but always goes to school in time” - Vee said - “It’s definitely a miracle.”

“This is called routine and I have a healthy routine” - Dai wasn’t amused - “Oh that’s right, what should we do now, Warlock?”

“You all have to concentrate and awake your inner power,” - the mage explained - “it will create a sphere of light with your core. Like this,” - and then Warlock closed his eyes and was pretty focused on it. Suddenly, a pink light with the symbol (crest) of Kindness appeared in his hands.

“So that’s how the light which came from Hikari’s heart previously” - Lia commented.

“Yes, basically” - he opened his eyes and kept holding the light - “I was chosen for a reason, but… I don’t know why. Maybe because my great grandpa wanted someone of the family to deal with it…In case of someone breaking Pandora’s seal.”

Lia glanced at Dai. Well, everyone did.

“Wait, what?! I-It’s not like I knew she was an evil witch!” - he protested - “A-anyway, let’s do it. Please, continue.”

“Focus in your inner energy. Let the aether guide you and it will unleash your power.”

Everyone there did it. Lights and symbols appeared in everyone’s hands, except for…

“Why? Why can’t I get it? I thought I… I thought I had one…!!”

…  _Daisuke._

“Why Daisuke-kun unable to do it?” - Hikari and Takeru asked.

“I dunno…” - Warlock mused - “I suppose it’s because he didn’t awake his power yet.”

“Wait, first we can’t get Fiorella’s core, now I can’t release mine?!” - Dai was so frustrated - “I want to save this world, isn’t it possible?! Are we… Doomed? Forever? Are we unable to… fix my mistake from years ago?!”

“Dai-kun…” - Ken didn’t like to see his friend like this…!!

“It doesn’t matter, I gonna make it work… Even if it costs my life!!”

“WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU SAYING?!”

That surprised everyone, especially because Ken always was nice, polite and never used strong words to talk. Even the Kaiser had been polite.

“I don’t care if you think that’s okay!” - Ken’s light disappeared and he walked towards Dai. Once closer from him, Ken grabbed him by his hoodie and stared Dai inside his eyes - “Remember what you said to me a year ago?! I tried to fix all my mistakes by myself, I said I didn’t care what could’ve happened to me. You stopped me and made me realize I could’ve died if I tried to stop that base to explode alone!”

Everyone decided to not interfere, but Lia wanted so much… Hikari gently grabbed her arm and called her attention by that. Hikari shook her head, making her let Ken continue.

“You didn’t want me to die, and I didn’t want to either! You told me if I could go there and not come back, everyone should’ve suffered with my death! My parents, my family… You, the Chosen Children, the digimon…! So then, why are you going to that route?! Dai-kun– No, Daisuke, I tell you to not dare to say that! We can solve this, we can fix Lance-san’s mistake, but don’t dare to say that. Your life is more important than the world, those people here were happy to see you again. We stayed because YOU are our friend and we want to help you!”

“K-Ken…” - Daisuke was shocked.

“If you’re going to fight, don’t pull a self-sacrifice on us! We wouldn’t have never accept it! We wouldn’t have accepted letting you die for us! So… Stop that right now!”

“He’s right!” - V-mon looked directly at the two - “You don’t need to die to solve this. You have us. You have all of us.”

“… I’m sorry” - Ken immediately let Dai go - “I didn’t want to…”

“No, it’s okay” - Dai muttered - “I was not thinking twice or trice…”

“*Ahem* I think you can unlock it when the time come, Lance” - Warlock intervened - “I believe sir Ken is right about not pulling a self-sacrifice on us. The last time you did it, things got worse for everyone.”

Dai looked at the floor… Yes, the last time… He had died.

“We can solve it, no matter how many days we will stay in this world!” - Miyako did a fist bump in the air - “Ah, we talked to Taichi-san so he might know we’re here and what to do to not let our families worried, right?”

“I appreciate your help, but if things take too much time to be solved I’ll be sending you five home” - Dai announced - “There’s no reason for you to stay here, I’m the only one who must stay.”

“No way!” - she shouted - “We’re a team. We do things together! We will stay and help, and when we’re done, we’re going home together!”

“… Fine, fine” - he sighed - “You’re quite stubborn, I expected nothing more from the group who beaten strong enemies in the past. I’m lucky to have you all.”


	9. What Fills You With Determination?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... Remember when I mentioned about my influences on this new version?  
>  Well... I think by the title you can see it.
> 
> One to go.  
> Thank you for the patience!!
> 
> (and I didn't finish arc 4 or Hinode/Sunrise to post one of them... orz)

“Say WHAT?!” - Jun screamed on the phone - “Are you sure?! I can’t do that, my mom would kill me if she discover Daisuke is out of her range! He had a hard time to convince her to go visit our grandparents in America alone last year and to go on a trip this year!”

 _“I know, but he told me to say that…”_ \- Taichi wasn’t happy with her screaming at him - _“Because he’s in another world. Look, I know he does not want to make your parents and you worried, so this is why I’m planning to go there with the others.”_

“I will go too.”

_“No, you stay here and tell Miyako-chan’s sisters to please give us some help. We won’t take too much time. Also there’s Iori’s and Ichijouji’s families… I will call them later. Please whatever you think, do NOT try to dive into the Digital Gate alone. I know you’re older than us, but you need to hear me. I’m your senpai when it’s about digimon business.”_

“Oh, senpai?” - she was being sarcastic now - “Right, Yagami-senpai. I will do what you want, but tell Kido-senpai I want a date with his oldest brother!”

_“A-are you serious?!”_

“Definitely~♥”

She hung up; at the Yagami household, Taichi was staring at the phone.

“That girl will end up doing something stupid” - he sighed.

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“Did you tell them?” - Yamato asked Taichi, once all the group were reunited in Koushiro’s room again.

“Yes… Jou, Motomiya-senpai said she wants a date with your big brother.”

“W-what?!”

“That’s not the right time for that!” - Sora interrupted them, like an angry mother - “Our plan is go to the Digital World and try to find a gate to that other world, isn’t it?”

“You were telling me to trust in the kids” - Taichi frowned - “Why the sudden change? Are you… Worried?”

“It’s not like I don’t trust them. It’s that I want to keep the gate open for their return!”

“So are we going or not?!” - Mimi snorted - “We need to decide!”

“We need to give them support, and this is why I want to… To go” - Sora answered.

“Yes, she’s worrying like a true mom” - Taichi nodded his head, arms crossed, eyes closed, a smirk…

“T-Taichi!!” - she blushed.

“Maybe we should go” - said Mimi - “We can at least keep the Digital World safe until they come back.”

“Safe from what?” - Jou questioned her - “The Digital world is safer than before. Oikawa-san’s seal… It restored it, if I remember correctly.”

“Actually not” - Koushiro interrupted them - “Gennai-san said there’s still stuff to be done. The Black War Greymon issue caused a great damage to the Digital World. The Holy Stones won’t grow that fast. The time Ichijouji-kun was the Kaiser, he unbalanced the Digital World with innumerous Dark Towers. The Digital World is far away from being ‘safe’ from the evil.”

“So… Are we still needed?” - Jou said it with a quiet voice.

“Yes, we are.”

“… We’re going” - Taichi announced - “We already talked to everyone’s families, Koushiro and Jou–”

“-senpai, please.”

“– And Jou will stay here keeping the gate opened. The rest will come with me, we’re opening this gate to this unknown world and save the kids.”

“Will you ever call me by ‘senpai’ at least ONCE?!”

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“I have to go back,” - Diomedes announced - “There’s too much to be done, so please contact me once you’re ready, Warlock.”

“I understand…” - the little brother couldn’t keep him for a long time - “the kingdom needs you… And you’re the one responsible for the relationships of our allies.”

“Wow, he doesn’t look like Izumi-senpai at all” - Miyako whispered to Hikari and Takeru - “Izumi-senpai has social anxiety by what I noticed. Him being at the computer club was a big surprise to me, I’ve only talked to him by e-mail before.”

“Can we gather all the cores we got and focus on the missing ones?” - Dai asked - “Like, no one needs to stay with us if we have the cores. I think Helios and prince Diomedes have royal affairs to deal with.”

“True…” - the mage wondered - “I didn’t read anything about needing all cores to be activated. Before we get separated, we should do that.”

Everyone agreed, then they concentrated on their power, let themselves be guided by their aether and again the cores appeared in front of them. The only one who didn’t do that was Daisuke, because for an unknown reason he couldn’t do that.

Still… Daisuke felt upset with himself about it.  _Why? Why didn’t my core appear? Do I have a crest?_ And all the doubts invaded his thoughts. Warlock them muttered some strange words to the Chosen Children, but understandable for the others (and Daisuke too, but his case was he couldn’t translate it to the kids). After saying them, the cores went directly to Lance’s star pendant.

“Is it done?” - Diomedes asked - “I need to return now, I apologize.”

“We’re done for now” - Warlock said - “all the cores are with Lance now.”

“Including ours?” - Iori wondered.

“Not at all” - Takeru said - “Look at your hands. They’re still here…!”

“I think the enchantment just picked the ones from this world” - the wizard mused - “This never happened before, I mean having more cores than needed.”

“What do you mean?”

_“Means you have more than needed, but it doesn’t matter… You’re unable to complete the requirements.”_

A voice echoed in the room. Dai ran to the entrance of the castle, with the rest coming after him. There, they found…!!

“The Black Tailmon returned!” - Vee blinked.

_“You will never finish it, Lance Duskstella. This world is fated to be engulfed by the darkness. No new life of yours will be able to save it. You and your outsider fellows will die here.”_

“T-that’s a creepy thing to s-say…!” - Miyako was panicked.

“That’s strange…” - The mage bit his lips - “We never had a cat monster before.”

“What?!” - Dai and Vee were shocked - “So, she does not belong to the castle?!”

“No. And she must be…” - Warlock stared at the foe - “… Pandora.”

“EEEH?!”

 _“Hmph, I knew he would recognize me”_  - Black Tailmon smirked -  _“Not bad for Dragon Who’s great grandson.”_

“She is the evil witch?!” - the 2-Top duo couldn’t believe that. Neither Lia.

“Rebecca… Aren’t you Rebecca?” - she was in denial.

_“Tsk tsk, you should’ve realized that all was a lie. I was keeping an eye on you… Because I saw a shard of your brother in this world, wandering and waiting for something. I knew he was about to come back someday. Humans are like monsters, they reborn. But differently from the monsters, they become differently from the past life.”_

“If you’re the evil witch, I gonna…” - Daisuke clenched his fists - “defeat you!!”

 _“What? You think you have the power to beat me?”_  - she laughed next -  _“You never learned enough spells to do that. You even have the requirements for Dragon Who’s sealing spell. What will you do? Use your outsider friends and their monsters to fight me? I’m invincible!”_

“You have no idea how strong we are” - Hikari shouted - “Daisuke-kun and I were willing to save this world, and we all here want it.”

“I agree with Hikari-san” - Ken added - “We are strong together, we’re going to beat you!”

_“I see… You must be the ones from the other world to have the same cores from those people. I will give you a warning: Lance Duskstella was a bad person, he is. And he will be your ruin.”_

“QUIT LYING!” - Takeru shouted - “We heard Lance-san’s story, and Daisuke-kun did a lot of good things. Don’t try to convince us he’s not a good person, or that he never had redemption!”

 _“Hmph, such brats…!”_  - Pandora changed her form to a woman and she released a wave against them. A black mist. Poisonous clouds.

Suddenly… the Chosen Children and Pandora had disappeared.

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“Everyone!!” - Daisuke called them - “Are you okay??”

“… Why are we still here?” - Miyako appeared behind him, her eyes darker than before - “If is Lance-san’s fault, why are we doing it? Daisuke can’t do anything by himself??”

“M-Miyako, that’s not true! Well not entirely…!!”

“Daisuke-san always gives us headaches.” - Same goes to Iori’s - “Now we’re trapped here.”

“H-Hey… I’m not–”

“Why does make Daisuke-kun the leader anyway?” – and Takeru’s - “He has no skills to lead a team. All he does is to boss around, to yell at me, to cause troubles…”

“B-But I thought–”

“Daisuke never was a tough rival” - Ken’s eyes were dark, but he also smirked - “He was nothing but an insect. He only beat me because he had luck, if he had used his skills he should’ve been my slave.”

“K-Ken– I…!!”

“If he hadn’t said my name to Lia-san,” - Hikari’s eyes were as well - “I could’ve been far away from this stupid world! It’s all his fault!”

“It is… my fault?”

 _“See? Even your ‘friends’ think that about you”_  - Pandora was right in front him -  _“They were lying to you ALL THE TIME. They didn’t stay because of you, but because you obliged them to!”_

“… No.”

V-mon, Hawkmon, Armadimon, Patamon,Tailmon and Wormmon appeared and tried to attack the witch, but they had been repelled by her. They fell in front the goggle boy.

“It doesn’t matter what they say, Daisuke!” - Tailmon said - “They’re not saying the truth!”  
“Takeru wouldn’t never say that!” - Patamon added.  
“Neither Kenchan!” - Wormmon gave him a serious gaze

“Miyako-san admires your bravery and loyalty, Daisuke-san.” - Hawkmon confessed - “That’s all she told me once”  
“Iori likes you, besides him being a little strict. But he surely likes you and was missing your lead, dagya.”

“Daisuke!” - V-mon grabbed the boy’s hand - “Even if we get corrupted… Even if we say lies to you… You know the truth! You truly know we’re here because we wanted, because we want to help! And Because you’re our friend before our group’s leader!”

_“They’re lying!”_

“THIS IS NOT A LIE!” – the digimon shouted and they tried to hit her again.

“… They wanted to stay because of me, they wanted to help because of me…!!”

Daisuke’s eyes were shining in red crimson now. He summoned the glaive and dashed against Pandora. The digimon got repelled again, but they keep trying.

“They wanted… To save this world because of me!!”

He slashed her, but a forcefield was protecting the witch.

“THERE’S NO WAY TO CONVINCE ME THEY DO NOT LIKE ME!!”

“Give up, Daisuke” - Ken said.  
“You’re done for” - Miyako chirped.  
“It’s over” - Hikari laughed.  
“Accept it, idiot” - Iori mocked him.  
“You’re a sore loser” - Takeru smirked.

“GUYS… OPEN YOUR EYES!” - Daisuke shouted - “YOU’VE BEEN FORCED TO SAY THOSE!! SHE’S MESSING WITH YOUR HEADS!! FIGHT IT!!”

“Kenchan, open your eyes!”  
“Miyako-san, fight it please!”  
“Hikari… You’re stronger than that witch, you know that!”  
“Iori!! Please stop it, dagya!”  
“Takeruu, don’t let her win!!”

“She won’t win because we’re united!!” - Vee roared - “Right, guys?!”  
“YEAH!”

_“I’m impressed… Those monsters are stronger than my master’s power.”_

“Your master?” - V-mon frowned - “Sorcerymon said the same… D-Daisuke, she’s not the real enemy! She might be corrupted just like everyone else…!!”

“Corrupted or not, I won’t allow her play with my friends!! Or with the people of this world…!” - He kept slashing the barrier - “At least we need to purify her just like Iori did with Sorcerymon!! But without Iori… We can’t do that…!”

“Don’t say we can’t! Where’s your courage? You were determined to save this world, you can’t give up now…!!”

“I am… I am determined and I will fight until I win! Because that’s what my heart tells me to do!!”

A explosion of light threw Pandora away from them, and dissolved the mist. Little by little, the Chosen Children recovered their light. Confused, they just glanced at Daisuke and him consumed by a crimson aura. They also were “back” to Warlock’s garden.

“Is that…!!” - Lia gasped, once she saw them all.   
“The Core of Determination…” - Warlock commented - “… Has finally awakened.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kinda based on a Zyuohger episode, at least the part where the 02 kids are corrupted temporarily.
> 
> Although you might yell at me for Daisuke have "doubts" on his friends, please remember at this point of the story he's not Daisuke only: He's Lance too. Lance and Daisuke are like "mixed", past and present in one. While Daisuke is what you see in the end of this scene as dominant, Lance is the one to feel guilty and filled with doubts. You will understand what I meant in the next (and last) chapter of this arc.


End file.
